Frieda Fishbein (March 7, 1886 - September 6, 1981) was a

Romanian American Romanian Americans () are Americans who have Romanian ancestry. According to the 2023 American Community Survey, 425,738 Americans indicated Romanian as their first or second ancestry, however other sources provide higher estimates, which a ...

theatrical, film, television and literary agent for writers including

Elmer Rice Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays '' The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Sce ...

, George S. Kaufman,

Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...

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, and

Colleen McCullough Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being '' The Thorn Birds'' and '' The Ladies of Missalonghi''. Lif ...

Personal life and education

Fishbein was born in Romania, the eldest daughter of Molly and Osias Fishbein. The family emigrated to the United States in 1901. She was educated in the

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

public school system, then spent the majority of her adult life in New York City, initially Manhattan, moving to Brooklyn in later life.

Work

Fishbein worked as a stenographer in New Orleans in 1903. After moving to New York City, her first job was as a secretary in a movie company. In 1910, she was again working as a stenographer. In 1929, Fishbein established the ''Frieda Fishbein Agency'', a literary and theatrical agency, in New York City. In the same year, the playwright, director and producer

Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed one feature film, ''Act One (film), Act One'', th ...

described her as having "a stable of young writers, none of whom she could support, except with praise and enthusiasm." He credited Fishbein with helping to get him his first job in Hollywood as a "$100-a-week writer" by introducing him to

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...

, "the maharajah of Columbia tudio. By 1932, she was on the advisory board of the New York Stage Society. Her agency moved to the

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in 1937. During an interview in 1946, she made the observation that many writers who had returned from the war had bought back partly completed plays. She believed the war had given them stamina and that they were sticking to their craft "more tenaciously". The following year, she made theatrical headlines across America by developing a new approach to selling shows. She would arrange for scripts to be acted out by semi-pros, filmed and the reel was submitted to prospective producers. According to an interview in 1954, she would receive "about ten plays a week". She would accept "about five a year, and would sell about 8-10 options a year." After Fishbein's death in 1981, her niece, Janice Fishbein, continued as the president of her agency.

Plays and playwrights

Fishbein represented the following writers and plays: Fishbein wrote at least one play herself, ''Pajama Tops'', in 1963.

Authors

She represented authors

Peter Kenna Peter Joseph Kenna (18 March 193029 November 1987) was an Australian playwright, radio actor and screenwriter. He has been called "a quasi-legendary figure in Australian theatre, never quite fashionable, but never quite forgotten either." Biogra ...

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Katherine Hoskins Katherine de Montalant Hoskins (May 25, 1909 – May 26, 1988) was an American poet, short story writer, and playwright. Life Born in Indian Head, Maryland to Katherine Peck Lackey and U.S. Navy Rear-Admiral Henry Ellis Lackey, Katherine was home- ...

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and

Alice White Alice White (born Alva White; August 25, 1904Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. , pg. 1228. – February 19, 1983) was an American film ac ...

. Her biggest financial success came from representing Australian author

. According to McCullough, she was making her sister a tuna fish casserole for her birthday and while looking through a list of agents she found Fishbein's name, which she took to be a sign. McCullough's first novel '' Tim'' (1974) was followed by the global hit ''

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'' (1977), selling over 33 million copies. As a "multi-million dollar product", Fishbein was able to retire on her share of the book.

Act One

Fishbein appears as a character in '' Act One'', a musical by

James Lapine James Elliot Lapine (born January 10, 1949) is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for ''Into the Woods'', ''Falsettos'', and '' Passion''. He ha ...

, adapted from the autobiography by Moss Hart. Her role is described "A literary agent. Highly respected in the community, so whatever plays she recommended for production were read with promptness and great enthusiasm. A bit of a character, she's tough and realistic, but very supportive of her client, Moss." The Teacher Resource Guide for the play adds Fishbein is "a highly respected literary agent who connects Hart with the producer Sam Harris, and his colleague, Max Siegel."

References