Overview

From his unlikely start as a Jewish All-American and 'three-letter man' in segregated Baltimore, Merle Debuskey was for fifty years - beginning just after World War II and ending in the mid-'90s - New York theater's top publicist, handling more Broadway shows than any press agent in Broadway history. He was Joe Papp's right-hand man for thirty years, and was the first mouthpiece for legendary nonprofits Circle in the Square and Lincoln Center Theater. He was the unseen player who, with Papp, fought Robert Moses, ensuring that Shakespeare in the Park remained free; made sure How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying kept its title; saved Zero Mostel's life; housed redbaiters target John Henry Faulk, befriending the blacklisted; manhandled George C. Scott and Mort Saul; and, romanced Kim Stanley, all the while puffing on his pipe, banging away at his old manual typewriter, and never seeming to break a sweat. He was Broadway's last gentleman press agent.

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9781557837653

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Robert Simonson is the author of two collections of theater profiles, Role of a Lifetime and On Broadway, Men Still Wear Hats. His writing on theater and the arts has been published regularly in the New York Times, Variety, the New York Post, the Village Voice, Time Out New York, and Playbill.com, where he was the editor from 1999 to 2006. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Sarah, and their son, Asher.

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