Sneha Girap (Editor)

Lee Shubert

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Name
  
Lee Shubert


Lee Shubert

Born
  
March 25, 1871 (
1871-03-25
)
Vladislavov, Russian Empire

Nationality
  
Jewish-Lithuanian American

Occupation
  
Theatre owner/operatorTheatrical producer

Died
  
December 25, 1953, New York City, New York, United States

Spouse
  
Marcella Swanson (m. 1936–1948)

Parents
  
Katrina Helwitz, Duvvid Schubart

Siblings
  
Jacob J. Shubert, Sam S. Shubert, Fannie Shubert, Lisa Shubert, Sarah Shubert, Dora Shubert

People also search for
  
Jacob J. Shubert, Sam S. Shubert, Katrina Helwitz, Duvvid Schubart

Organizations founded
  
The Shubert Organization

Levi "Lee" Shubert (March 25, 1871– December 25, 1953) was a Jewish-Lithuanian-born American theatre owner/operator and producer and the eldest of seven siblings of the theatrical Shubert family.

Contents

Biography

Born to Duvvid Schubart and Katrina Helwitzin in Vladislavov, in the Suwałki Governorate of Congress Poland, a part of the Russian Empire (present-day Kudirkos Naumiestis, Lithuania), Shubert was 11 years old when the family emigrated to the United States and settled in Syracuse, New York, where a number of Jewish families from their hometown already were living. His father's alcoholism kept the family in difficult financial circumstances, and Lee Shubert went to work selling newspapers on a street corner. With borrowed money, he and younger brothers Sam and Jacob eventually embarked on a business venture that led to them to become the successful operators of several theaters in upstate New York.

The Shubert brothers decided to expand to the huge market in New York City, and at the end of March 1900 they leased the Herald Square Theatre at the corner of Broadway and 35th Street in Manhattan. Leaving younger brother Jacob at home to manage their existing theatres, Lee and Sam Shubert moved to New York City where they laid the foundations for what was to become the largest theatre empire in the 20th century, including the Winter Garden and Shubert Theatres.

The all-powerful Theatrical Syndicate essentially excluded competition. Since the Shuberts were not permitted to use Syndicate-controlled theaters, they put on shows in rented circus tents, holding "three times as many customers as the typical theater." In 1910, they formed the "Independent National Theatre Owner's Association," which brought about the defection of many theaters from all around the country that previously had been affiliated with the Syndicate. In 1922, it was announced that "Lee Shubert and A. L. Erlanger...rivals for twenty years" had reached a working understanding.

Lee Shubert was a hard nosed businessman who has been criticized for being money and power oriented with little interest in culture. Nonetheless, he recognized the need to attract some of the top stage actors from the long-established European theatres to perform at the new Broadway houses. After a disastrous production of Hamlet in 1901 at a competitor's theatre, French megastar Sarah Bernhardt vowed never to return to America until Lee Shubert convinced her to perform for his company in 1905. He was also responsible for introducing singer Carmen Miranda to the american public in 1939.

Personal

He was married to Marcella Swanson. They had previously been secretly married on July 29, 1936 in Germany and divorced in September 1948 in Reno, Nevada. They remarried in Miami in March 1949 (Time Magazine reports the remarriage was in February).

Lee Shubert died in New York City on December 25, 1953 at the age of 82 and was interred in the family plot at Salem Fields Cemetery in Brooklyn.

References

Lee Shubert Wikipedia


Similar Topics