Show Business Weekly
Encyclopedia
Show Business, also known as Show Business Weekly, is a performing arts
trade magazine published by Manhattan
-based publisher Show Business Inc.
The magazine's editorial mission is to guide actor
s, singers and dancers toward success in their performing arts careers. Show Business publishes casting and audition notices (primarily for the New York City
area), contact listings for agents, managers, and casting directors, and entertainment-related news and information.
In the early years of Show Business, actors such as Lauren Bacall
and Kirk Douglas
would pick up copies for 5 cents a piece and sell them at Sardi's
and other establishments in the theater district.
The operation grew to include several other publications, including resource directories for theaters, agents, managers, and producers.
In 1960, Mayor Robert Wagner
issued an official proclamation that declared April 25th - May 2nd "Show Business Week" in New York City:
In 1960, Show Business employees Allen Zwerdling
and Ira Eaker
left the publication to found their own rival casting newspaper, Back Stage
. Show Business and Back Stage have both continued publishing ever since.
In 2010, after its first major overhaul in more than a decade, Show Business changed from a weekly to a monthly magazine.
In her autobiography By Myself, Lauren Bacall
credits Show Business with helping her early career. As an aspiring actress, she also sold copies in front of Walgreens
drug store on 7th Avenue and 44th St. in Times Square.
Gossip columnist Cindy Adams
worked for Show Business early in her career.
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
trade magazine published by Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
-based publisher Show Business Inc.
Show Business Inc.
Located in midtown Manhattan, Show Business Inc. is an entertainment-industry brand aimed at people working in film and the performing arts in New York City. Show Business publishes a weekly tabloid-sized trade magazine, a monthly digest-sized resource guide, Who’s Who in Show Business, and the...
The magazine's editorial mission is to guide actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s, singers and dancers toward success in their performing arts careers. Show Business publishes casting and audition notices (primarily for the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
area), contact listings for agents, managers, and casting directors, and entertainment-related news and information.
History
Show Business was founded by Leo Shull in New York in 1941 as a four-page mimeographed daily paper called Actors Cues. Shull, a journalism graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, came to New York with aspirations of being a playwright. Audition information at the time was difficult to come by for newcomers, so Shull launched a casting publication as a means of bringing information directly to actors.In the early years of Show Business, actors such as Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
and Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
would pick up copies for 5 cents a piece and sell them at Sardi's
Sardi's
Sardi's is a restaurant in New York City's theater district at 234 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Known for the hundreds of caricatures of show-business celebrities that adorn its walls, Sardi's opened at its current location on March 5, 1927....
and other establishments in the theater district.
The operation grew to include several other publications, including resource directories for theaters, agents, managers, and producers.
In 1960, Mayor Robert Wagner
Robert F. Wagner, Jr.
Robert Ferdinand Wagner II, usually known as Robert F. Wagner, Jr. served three terms as the mayor of New York City, from 1954 through 1965.-Biography:...
issued an official proclamation that declared April 25th - May 2nd "Show Business Week" in New York City:
- "Through this theatrical publication, untold thousands of aspiring artists, young men and women who have adopted the theatre as a profession, have been aided and guided in a realistic approach to this media."
In 1960, Show Business employees Allen Zwerdling
Allen Zwerdling
Allen Zwerdling was a co-founder of Back Stage, the "casting bible" for theater performers.-Biography:...
and Ira Eaker
Ira Eaker (Back Stage)
Ira Eaker was a co-founder of Back Stage, a weekly newspaper aimed at the theater, television and movie industries that is considered a "must-read" for actors and other professionals looking for jobs and industry information....
left the publication to found their own rival casting newspaper, Back Stage
Back Stage
Back Stage is an entertainment-industry brand aimed at people working in film and the performing arts, with a special focus on casting, job opportunities, and career advice.Back Stage publishes a weekly tabloid-sized trade magazine in the U.S...
. Show Business and Back Stage have both continued publishing ever since.
In 2010, after its first major overhaul in more than a decade, Show Business changed from a weekly to a monthly magazine.
Show Business in pop culture
Alan Parker's 1980 film Fame, which follows students of New York's High School of Performing Arts, features characters reading Show Business.In her autobiography By Myself, Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
credits Show Business with helping her early career. As an aspiring actress, she also sold copies in front of Walgreens
Walgreens
Walgreen Co. , doing business as Walgreens , is the largest drugstore chain in the United States of America. As of August 31st, the company operates 8,210 locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1901, and has since expanded...
drug store on 7th Avenue and 44th St. in Times Square.
Gossip columnist Cindy Adams
Cindy Adams
Cindy Adams is an American gossip columnist and writer. She is the widow of comedian and humorist Joey Adams.-Early life and education:Born an only child in New York City, she was one year old when her parents divorced...
worked for Show Business early in her career.