John Lotas (September 14, 1920 – August 18, 1995) was the original producer of

Hal Holbrook Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called ''Mark Twain Tonight!'' while studying at Denison University. H ...

’s “

Mark Twain Tonight Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

!” in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Biography

John Lotas was born on September 14, 1920, in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

. Lotas discovered

The Lambs The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a New York City social club that nurtures those active in the arts, as well as those who are supporters of the arts, by providing activities and a clubhouse for its members. It is America's old ...

in Manhattan in the 1950s. Lotas was elected to The Lambs in 1953. In 1959, he presented Holbrook's ''

!'' at the

44th Street Theatre The 44th Street Theatre was a Broadway theater at 216 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City from 1912 to 1945. It was originally named Weber and Fields' Music Hall when it opened in November 1912 as a resident ve ...

in New York City. The show ran for 174 performances. It later reopened on

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 ...

. Lotas was a

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

talent for

Paramount News Paramount News was a newsreel series that was produced by Paramount Pictures from 1927 to 1957. History The Paramount newsreel operation began in 1927 with Emanuel Cohen as an editor. It typically distributed two issues per week to theaters acro ...

and was an original follower and contributor to the Sri Atmananda Memorial School (Austin, Texas). For many years he headed Lotas Productions, a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

and

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

in New York City. Lotas had a son and two daughters, Christopher, Sasha and Amanda. He died on August 18, 1995, after being struck by a car in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

References

1920 births 1995 deaths People from Springfield, Massachusetts People from New York City American theatre managers and producers Road incident deaths in Texas {{US-film-bio-stub