Gilman Kraft (April 22, 1926 – June 27, 1999) was an American publisher and former owner of ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...

''.

Biography

Kraft was born in

Union City, New Jersey Union City is a City (New Jersey), city in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was List of municipalities in Ne ...

on April 22, 1926. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as a Japanese linguist. After graduating from Columbia College in 1947, he founded the Reader's Subscription book club in 1951, and hired

Lionel Trilling Lionel Mordecai Trilling (July 4, 1905 – November 5, 1975) was an American literary critic, short story writer, essayist, and teacher. He was one of the leading U.S. critics of the 20th century who analyzed the contemporary cultural, social, ...

Jacques Barzun Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-born American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, ...

, and

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

as editors. In 1957, Kraft took over the then-flagging

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

program service ''

'' and operated it for ten years. He was also publisher of ''Show'' magazine in 1965 and 1966. He then moved to Los Angeles to found Performing Arts in 1966, while also investing in commercial and residential real estate. The magazine he founded provides printed programs for the Los Angeles County Music Center, the

Orange County Performing Arts Center The Segerstrom Center for the Arts (originally called Orange County Performing Arts Center) is a performing arts complex in Costa Mesa, California, Costa Mesa, California, United States, which opened in 1986. Designed by Charles Lawrence, the Cen ...

, San Francisco Opera and Ballet, the

Pasadena Playhouse Pasadena Playhouse is a Tony Award-winning historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engag ...

and more than 40 other venues in California.

Personal life

Kraft was married to Ruth Kraft. He died on June 27, 1999, in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

at age 73. His brother is the syndicated columnist

Joseph Kraft Joseph Kraft (September 4, 1924 – January 10, 1986) was an American journalist. Career Kraft began his career in journalism at the age of 14 where he worked as a stringer covering high school sports for the New York World-Telegram. Kraft wo ...

, whose work landed him on the

master list of Nixon's political opponents The master list of Nixon's political opponents was a secret list compiled by US President Richard Nixon's Presidential Counselor Charles Colson. It was an expansion of the original Nixon's Enemies List of 20 key people considered opponents of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Gilman 1926 births 1999 deaths People from Union City, New Jersey Columbia College (New York) alumni American publishers (people)