Irvin Feld (May 9, 1918 – September 6, 1984) was a business entrepreneur who built a chain of record stores, promoted rock groups, produced concerts involving some of the biggest names in popular music. He was also the head of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and founder of

Feld Entertainment Feld Entertainment Inc. is an American live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows. The company began with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus before expanding into additional live events, including Disney on ...

. He was a

music promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

who is credited with discovering

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include " Diana", “ You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wr ...

Biography

Feld was born on May 9, 1918, in

Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. The population was 43,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's List of municipalities in Maryland, sixth-most popu ...

, to

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

immigrants. Following high school, in 1938 he and his brother opened a drugstore on Seventh Street NW in Washington, D.C. Records proved big-sellers at the store. He later opened Super Music City record stores, and eventually branched out into producing both his own records and his own live concerts. After ten years as one of several national promoters for the Ringling Circus, Feld, along with his brother Israel Feld and Houston Judge

Roy Hofheinz Roy Mark Hofheinz (April 10, 1912 – November 22, 1982), popularly known as Judge Hofheinz or "The Judge", was a Texas state representative from 1935 to 1937 ( 44th legislature), county judge of Harris County, Texas from 1936 to 1944, a ...

, bought the circus on November 11, 1967, for $8 million. In 1968, he began the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. He sold the circus to

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

in 1971 for $50 million in Mattel stock. He bought it back from Mattel in 1982 for $22.8 million. Feld died on September 6, 1984, at age 66, in Venice, Florida. He was survived by two children, Karen and Kenneth. He was remembered in the New York Times as the "man who saved the circus".

Personal life and legacy

In 1946, he married Adele Feld. They had two children, Karen and Kenneth. After Adele Feld committed suicide in 1958, the children were raised by their aunt and uncle in Washington, DC. After Feld died in 1984, the circus passed to his son Kenneth Jeffrey Feld, who had joined the company in 1970. In 1987, Feld was inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame.

References

1918 births 1984 deaths American people of Russian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Maryland American circus owners American music promoters People from Hagerstown, Maryland Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus people 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1910s-stub