David Merrick (born David Lee Margoulis; November 27, 1911 – April 25, 2000) was an American theatrical producer who won a number of

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

Life and career

Born David Lee Margulois to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Merrick graduated from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, then studied law at the Jesuit-run

Saint Louis University School of Law Saint Louis University School of Law, also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. The University hosted a law school briefly fr ...

. In 1940, he left his legal career to become a successful theatrical producer. His first seven productions were hits, starting with ''Clutterbuck'' in 1949, which he produced in partnership with Irving Jacobs, and he set a precedent in 1958 of having four productions on Broadway simultaneously; all hits: ''

Look Back in Anger ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...

'', '' Romanoff and Juliet'', ''

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

'' and '' The Entertainer''. He often was his own competition for the Tony Award, and he frequently won multiple nominations and/or wins in the same season. Merrick was known for his love of

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

s. In 1949, his comedy ''Clutterbuck'' was running out of steam, but along with discount tickets, he paged hotel bars and restaurants around Manhattan during cocktail hour for a "fictive Mr. Clutterbuck" as a way of generating name recognition for his production, and it helped his show keep alive for another few months. Another famous stunt promoted the poorly reviewed 1961 musical ''

Subways Are For Sleeping ''Subways Are for Sleeping'' is a musical produced by David Merrick with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The original Broadway production played in 1961–62. The musical was inspired by an article abo ...

''. Merrick found seven New Yorkers who had the same names as the city's seven leading theater critics:

Howard Taubman Hyman Howard Taubman (July 4, 1907 – January 8, 1996) was an American music critic, theater critic, and author. Biography Born in Manhattan, Taubman attended DeWitt Clinton High School and then won a four-year scholarship to Cornell University, ...

Walter Kerr Walter Francis Kerr (July 8, 1913 – October 9, 1996) was an American writer and Broadway theatre critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals as well as the author of several books, genera ...

, John Chapman, John McClain, Richard Watts Jr., Norman Nadel, and Robert Coleman. Merrick invited the seven

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

s to the musical and secured their permission to use their names and pictures in an advertisement alongside quotes such as "One of the few great musical comedies of the last thirty years" and "A fabulous musical. I love it." Merrick then prepared a newspaper ad featuring the namesakes' rave reviews under the heading "7 Out of 7 Are Ecstatically Unanimous About Subways Are For Sleeping". Only one newspaper, the '' New York Herald Tribune'', published the ad, and only in one edition; however, the publicity that the ad garnered helped the musical remain open for 205 performances (almost six months). Merrick later revealed that he had conceived the ad several years previously, but had not been able to execute it until

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for '' The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of hi ...

retired as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' theater critic in 1960 since he could not find anyone with the same name. Merrick joined

The Lambs The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a social club in New York City for actors, songwriters, and others involved in the theatre. It is America's oldest theatrical organization. "The Lambs" is a registered trademark of The Lambs, Inc ...

in 1950, and in 1968 he joined the board of directors of the

Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...

, a hotel and casino on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, alongside

Harvey Silbert Harvey L. Silbert (1912–2002) was an American real estate and entertainment lawyer, casino executive and philanthropist. He represented celebrities and studio executives. He was a real estate investor in Westwood, Los Angeles, and a director of ...

and Harry A. Goodman. He also worked with director and choreographer

Gower Champion Gower Carlyle Champion (June 22, 1919 – August 25, 1980) was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer. Early years Champion was born on June 22, 1919, in Geneva, Illinois, as the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice Car ...

, who directed Merrick's production of '' 42nd Street''. But on the morning of August 25, 1980, Champion died of a rare blood cancer, and Merrick announced the news himself to both the cast and the audience at the opening night curtain call. Merrick suffered a stroke in 1983, after which he spent most of his time in a wheelchair. He established the David Merrick Arts Foundation in 1998 to support the development of American musicals.

Personal life

Merrick was married six times to five women. His first marriage was to fellow native-St. Louisan Leonore Beck. They married January 16, 1938, and divorced on January 11, 1963. His second wife, Jeanne Gibson, was a Kentucky-born Broadway press agent. They met at the Savoy Hotel in London, where Gibson was working as the hotel’s press consultant. She became pregnant in 1962, while Merrick was still married to Beck. Their daughter, Cecilia Ann Merrick, was born January 1963. Gibson and Merrick were married from spring 1963 until October 1966. He married Etan Aronson (born February 1944), a Swedish model and former flight attendant, twice. They first married in September 1969, and divorced in Mexico three weeks later, but the divorce was not finalized in America until 1976. Together, they had a daughter, Marguerita Merrick (born September 1972). On July 1, 1982, Merrick married actor Karen Prunczik, who originated the role of Anytime Annie and filled in for a week playing the lead character Peggy Sawyer in Merrick’s ''42^nd Street''. They divorced in 1983. Merrick and Aronson married for the second time on Tuesday, August 30, 1983 in Greenwich, Connecticut. In the late 1980s, they adopted two children, Olivia Merrick (born May 1988) and Carl Christian Merrick (born July 1987), although in 1994 Merrick petitioned the court to cancel the adoption. Merrick and Aronson divorced again in October 1999, after lengthy divorce proceedings. Merrick met Natalie Lloyd (born Natalie Ting Teresa in Shanghai in 1954) in the late 1980s when she was working as a receptionist in the office of William Goodstein, Merrick’s lawyer. They started living together almost immediately, while Merrick was still married to Aronson. Merrick and Lloyd married November 1999, less than six months before Merrick’s death on April 25, 2000.

Honors

In 1965, Merrick received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

. In 2001, Merrick was inducted into the

St. Louis Walk of Fame The St. Louis Walk of Fame honors notable people from St. Louis, Missouri, who made contributions to the culture of the United States. All inductees were either born in the Greater St. Louis area or spent their formative or creative years ther ...

Biography

An unauthorized biography by Howard Kissel is titled ''David Merrick: The Abominable Showman'' ().

Cultural references

In "What Does A Naked Lady Say to You?", a first-season episode of '' The Odd Couple'', the director of the nude off-Broadway play ''Bathtub'' (itself based on ''

Oh! Calcutta! ''Oh! Calcutta!'' is an avant-garde, risque theatrical revue created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in the West End in 1970. It ran in Lond ...

'') complains after police officer Murray Greschler ( Al Molinaro) busts the production for indecency, "Murray, you wouldn't do this to me if I was David Merrick!" In "We Closed in Minneapolis", a first-season episode of ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Mo ...

'', Mary's character comments to the mailroom guy upon seeing his delivery to Murray's desk of what she assumes to be a rejection letter, "Oh, poor Murray. He's been writing this play for three years. You'd think Broadway producers would be sensitive enough to do more than just stick mimeographed rejection slips in when they send it back. You know, something like a nice, handwritten note saying, "Good work, Murray. Nice try. Love, David Merrick."

Quotes

* "It's not enough that I should succeed, others should fail." (This statement has also been attributed to François de La Rochefoucauld,

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

, and Genghis Khan.)

Awards and nominations

* 1958 Tony Award for Best Play ('' Romanoff and Juliet'', nominee) * 1958 Tony Award for Best Play (''

'', nominee) * 1958 Tony Award for Best Musical (''

'', nominee) * 1959 Tony Award for Best Play (''

Epitaph for George Dillon ''Epitaph for George Dillon'' is an early John Osborne Play (theatre), play, one of two he wrote in collaboration with Anthony Creighton (the other is ''Personal Enemy''). It was written before ''Look Back in Anger'', the play which made Osbor ...

'', nominee) * 1959 Tony Award for Best Musical (''

La Plume de Ma Tante ' is a 1955 musical comedy, written, devised, and directed by Robert Dhéry, with music by Gérard Calvi, and English lyrics by Ross Parker. The play consisted of a number of short sketches in English, French, and pantomime, satirizing French ...

'', nominee) * 1960 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Take Me Along'', nominee) * 1961 Special Tony Award (winner) * 1961 Tony Award for Best Play (''Becket'', winner) * 1961 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Do Re Mi'', nominee) * 1961 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Irma La Douce'', nominee) * 1962 Tony Award for Best Producer of a Play (''Ross'', nominee) * 1962 Tony Award for Best Producer of a Musical (''Carnival'', nominee) * 1962 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Carnival'', nominee) * 1963 Tony Award for Best Producer of a Musical (''Oliver!'', nominee) * 1963 Tony Award for Best Musical ('' Oliver!'', nominee) * 1963 Tony Award for Best Musical (''

Stop the World – I Want to Get Off ''Stop the World – I Want to Get Off'' is a 1961 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. According to Oscar Levant, the play's title was derived from graffiti. Plot The show, set against a circus backdr ...

'', nominee) * 1964 Tony Award for Best Producer (Musical) (''Hello, Dolly!'', winner) * 1964 Tony Award for Best Play (''Luther'', winner) * 1964 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Hello, Dolly!'', winner) * 1965 Tony Award for Best Producer of a Musical (''The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd'', nominee) * 1965 Tony Award for Best Musical (''

Oh, What a Lovely War! ''Oh, What a Lovely War!'' is an epic musical developed by Joan Littlewood and her ensemble at the Theatre Workshop in 1963. It is a satire on World War I, and by extension on war in general. The title is derived from the "somewhat satirical" ...

'', nominee) * 1966 Tony Award for Best Play (''Inadmissible Evidence'', nominee) * 1966 Tony Award for Best Play (''

Philadelphia, Here I Come! ''Philadelphia, Here I Come!'' is a 1964 play by Irish dramatist Brian Friel. Set in the fictional town of Ballybeg, County Donegal, the play launched Friel onto the international stage. Plot ''Philadelphia, Here I Come!'' centres around Gareth ...

'', nominee) * 1966 Tony Award for Best Play (''

Marat/Sade ''The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade'' (german: Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats dargestellt durch die Schauspielgrupp ...

'', winner) * 1967 Tony Award for Best Musical (''I Do! I Do!'', nominee) * 1968 Special Tony Award (winner) * 1968 Tony Award for Best Producer of a Play (''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'', winner) * 1968 Tony Award for Best Play (''

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'' is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's ''Ham ...

'', winner) * 1968 Tony Award for Best Musical (''The Happy Time'', nominee) * 1968 Tony Award for Best Musical (''

How Now, Dow Jones ''How Now, Dow Jones'' is a musical comedy by Academy Award winner Elmer Bernstein, Tony Award nominee Carolyn Leigh and Max Shulman. The original Broadway production opened in December 1967. A critically acclaimed revised version premiered Of ...

'', nominee) * 1969 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Promises, Promises'', nominee) * 1970 Tony Award for Best Play (''Child's Play'', nominee) * 1971 Tony Award for Best Play (''The Philanthropist'', nominee) * 1972 Tony Award for Best Play (''Vivat! Vivat Regina!'', nominee) * 1973 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Sugar'', nominee) * 1975 Tony Award for Best Musical (''Mack & Mabel'', nominee) * 1976 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival (''Very Good Eddie'', nominee) * 1976 Tony Award for Best Play (''Travesties'', winner) * 1981 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical (''42nd Street'', nominee) * 1981 Tony Award for Best Musical (''42nd Street'', winner) * 1986 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival (''Loot'', nominee) * 1986 Tony Award for Best Reproduction (''Loot'', nominee)

Additional notable stage productions

* ''Clutterbuck'' (1949) * '' Fanny'' (1954) * ''

The Matchmaker ''The Matchmaker'' is a 1954 play by Thornton Wilder, a rewritten version of his 1938 play ''The Merchant of Yonkers''. History The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce ''A Day Well Spent'' had been exte ...

'' (1955) * ''

'' (1957) * '' Romanoff and Juliet'' (1957) * ''

'' (1957) * '' The Entertainer'' (1958) * ''

The World of Suzie Wong ''The World of Suzie Wong'' is a 1957 novel by British writer Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute. ...

'' (1958) * ''

Destry Rides Again ''Destry Rides Again'' is a 1939 American Western comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey ...

'' (1959) * ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

'' (1959) * ''

Take Me Along ''Take Me Along'' is a 1959 musical based on the 1933 Eugene O'Neill play '' Ah, Wilderness'', with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Joseph Stein and Robert Russell.Mandelbaum, Ke"Ken Mandelbaum's Musicals On Disc: Remembering Bob Me ...

'' (1959) * ''

Irma La Douce ''Irma la Douce'' (, "Irma the Sweet") is a 1963 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond, based on the 1956 French stage musical of the same name by Marguerite Monnot and Alexa ...

'' (1960) * '' A Taste of Honey'' (1960) * ''

Becket ''Becket or The Honour of God'' (french: Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu) is a 1959 play written in French by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's assassination in 117 ...

'' (1960) * '' Do Re Mi'' (1960) * '' Carnival!'' (1961) * ''

'' (1961) * ''

I Can Get It for You Wholesale ''I Can Get It for You Wholesale'' is a musical, produced by David Merrick, music and lyrics by Harold Rome, and book by Jerome Weidman, based on his 1937 novel of the same title. It marked the Broadway debut of 19-year-old Barbra Streisand ...

'' (1962) * ''

'' (1962) * '' Oliver!'' (1963) * ''

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (give ...

'' (1963) * ''

110 in the Shade ''110 in the Shade'' is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt. Based on Nash's 1954 play '' The Rainmaker'', it focuses on Lizzie Curry, a spinster living on a ranch in the American southwest, ...

'' (1963) * '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1963) * ''

The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore ''The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore'' (1963) is a play in a prologue and six scenes, written by Tennessee Williams. He told John Gruen in 1965 that it was "the play that I worked on longest," and he premiered a version of it at the Festiva ...

'' (1964) * '' Hello, Dolly!'' (1964) * '' Foxy'' (1964) * ''

Oh! What a Lovely War ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' is a 1969 British comedy musical war film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth More, Laurence Ol ...

'' (1964) * ''

The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd ''The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd'' is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The musical is best known for introducing the standards "A Wonderful Day Like Today", "Who Can I Turn T ...

'' (1965) * '' Pickwick'' (1965) * '' Cactus Flower'' (1965) * ''

'' (1965) * '' Don't Drink the Water'' (1966) * ''

I Do! I Do! ''I Do! I Do!'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt which is based on the Jan de Hartog play ''The Fourposter''. The two-character story spans 50 years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the ups and down ...

'' (1966) * '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (1966) * '' Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead'' (1967) * ''

'' (1967) * ''

The Seven Descents of Myrtle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1968) * ''

The Happy Time ''The Happy Time'' is a 1952 American comedy-drama film directed by the award-winning director Richard Fleischer, based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Robert Fontaine, which Samuel A. Taylor turned into a hit play. A boy, played by Bobb ...

'' (1968) * '' Promises, Promises'' (1968) * ''

Forty Carats ''Forty Carats'' is a play by Jay Presson Allen. Adapted from the French original by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, the comedy revolves around a 40-year-old American divorcee who is assisted by a 22-year-old when her car breaks down du ...

'' (1968) * '' Play It Again, Sam'' (1969) * ''

Private Lives ''Private Lives'' is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetu ...

'' (1969) * ''

Mack and Mabel ''Mack and Mabel'' (often stylized as Mack & Mabel) is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. The plot involves the tumultuous romantic relationship between Hollywood director Mack Sennett and Mabel Norman ...

'' (1974) * ''

Very Good Eddie ''Very Good Eddie'' is a musical with a book by Guy Bolton and Philip Bartholomae, music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics by Schuyler Greene, with additional lyrics by Elsie Janis, Herbert Reynolds, Harry B. Smith, John E. Hazzard, Ring Lardner and Je ...

'' (1975) * ''

State Fair A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in th ...

'' (1996)

Film productions

Merrick produced four films: * '' Child's Play'' (1972) * ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

'' (1974) * '' Semi-Tough'' (1977) * ''

Rough Cut In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and ...

'' (1980)

References

External links

''The New York Times'' obituary
* *
David Merrick Paper
s at the

Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) is a major archive of motion picture, television, radio, and theater research materials. Located in the headquarters building of the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, the ...

St. Louis Walk of Fame
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrick, David 1911 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American Jews American theatre directors American theatre managers and producers American entertainment industry businesspeople Broadway theatre producers Businesspeople from St. Louis Missouri Democrats New York (state) Democrats Tony Award winners Washington University in St. Louis alumni Saint Louis University School of Law alumni 20th-century American businesspeople American casino industry businesspeople American corporate directors Special Tony Award recipients