Stephen Blauner
Encyclopedia
Jules Stephen "Boom Boom" Blauner (September 19, 1933) was Bobby Darin
's manager and very close friend, producer, and member of BBS Productions.
where Blauner was born. Blauner was born on 81st across from the planetarium. When he was in kindergarten, the family moved to White Plains, 45 minutes from Broadway. He had a childhood friend, Bert Schneider
, and the two were inseparable. They are still today, very good friends. Scheider’s father was treasurer of Columbia Pictures
. Blauner loved Al Jolson
from the start. When he was 13, he saw the Jolson story 18 times. It turned him on to show business.
where Sammy Davis Jr. was performing. Blauner idolized Davis and introduced himself during a break. “The way you feel about Frank Sinatra
," he said, "is the way I feel about you”. The two became friends. After Blauner’s time in the military was up, he and Davis saw each other often.
, at that time the third largest agency in the world. He met with Harriet Wasser and took Darin under his wing, but Blauner never managed and had just started in the business, but everything he knew, he was willing to teach Darin. He signed Darin with GAC, not caring that he might "screw up his life". He got Darin his first gig in Connecticut
and Blauner was wowed. Sometime in 1958, Blauner got transferred to California
and Darin was there too. Blauner was sharing a house with a guy who worked for Sammy Davis and Darin would sleep on the couch. The two where driving on Sunset Blvd. when Darin said, “I want you to manage me”. Blauner almost crashed the car. He said no because it’s not ethical, him being in the agency, and also because he said, “Bobby, you’re going to be a big star and I don’t know enough, I’ve only been in the business for a minute and a half”. He had turned him down. Later, after he quit GAC, he asked Darin if he still wanted him to be his manager. Darin said “yes” and from then on Blauner was Darin’s official manager until 1965. Blauner once again reminded Darin that he was not a professional and the only other management he did was with Dick Haymes. That was for a very short period until Dick began to drink again, which was early in the management. Darin still said yes. Blauner refers to his management period with Darin as a “comet ride”. One day Darin went to Atlantic Records and said that he wanted to do an album of standards. They wouldn't let him at first because he was a rock and roll singer. Darin finally managed to make the album. It included the famous track, "Mack the Knife".
became vice president and treasurer of Screen Gems
. Around the time Darin had received his Academy-Award nomination for his character in Captain Newman M.D, Blauner felt that he had done everything he could for Bobby as a manager. They split professionally, but remained friends. Blauner convinced Screen Gems to hire Jackie Cooper
as head of the studio. Blauner at that time was also responsible for popular t.v. sitcoms such as, “Bewitched
”, “I Dream of Jeannie
”, “The Farmer’s Daughter”, and “Hazel
”. Most of the sitcoms were ignored by Hollywood. One day Schneider and Bob Rafelson walked up to Blauner and said “We want to do A Hard Day's Night
as a T.V. show”. Blauner’s immediate answer was “Go”. They showed The Monkees
in NBC studios and as Blauner recalled, the incident went like this:
“Right after we showed the pilot, the director of NBC, Mort Warner, stood up and said “I don’t know what the hell we’ve just seen but I think we should put it on the air”.
Blauner formed BBS and during that time, they made Easy Rider
, Academy-Award winner for best documentary Hearts and Minds
, The Monkees series, Five Easy Pieces
, The Last Picture Show
, The King of Marvin Gardens
, A Safe Place
, and many more.
. The list includes Nat Cole, George Burns
, Frankie Laine
, Johnny Ray
, Jack Nicholson
, Willie Mays
, Jackie Cooper
, Huey Newton, Peggy Lee
, Bruce Dern
, Dennis Hopper
, Jimmy Scalia
, Dick Haymes
, Perry Como
, Tony Lema
, and the countless cast and crews of his films. Blauner continues to represent the Bobby Darin estate.
Blauner himself appeared in a few videotaped comedy "blackout" sketched for the late Ernie Kovacs
during the early 1960s. One sketch was entitled "Whom Dunnit", where he played a dimwitted panalist wearing a "Beanie Copter" hat and sweatshirt emblasioned with the word "Trenton" (which was a Kovacs mocking reference to his hometown of Trenton, NJ).
He was portrayed by John Goodman
in the 2004 Bobby Darin
biopic Beyond the Sea
.
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
's manager and very close friend, producer, and member of BBS Productions.
Early life
Blauner was born to Eugene and Marion. They settled in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
where Blauner was born. Blauner was born on 81st across from the planetarium. When he was in kindergarten, the family moved to White Plains, 45 minutes from Broadway. He had a childhood friend, Bert Schneider
Bert Schneider
Berton "Bert" Schneider is an American movie producer, who was behind a number of important and topical films of the late-1960s and early-1970s. The son of Abraham Schneider, onetime president of Columbia Pictures, the younger Schneider tended toward the rebellious. He briefly attended Cornell...
, and the two were inseparable. They are still today, very good friends. Scheider’s father was treasurer of Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. Blauner loved Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
from the start. When he was 13, he saw the Jolson story 18 times. It turned him on to show business.
Blauner and Sammy Davis
While Blauner was serving his time in the military, he went to the CopacabanaCopacabana (nightclub)
The Copacabana is a famous New York City nightclub. Many entertainers, among them Danny Thomas, Pat Cooper and the comedy team of Martin and Lewis, made their debuts at the Copacabana. The 1978 Barry Manilow song "Copacabana" is named after, and is about the nightclub. Part of the 2003 Yerba...
where Sammy Davis Jr. was performing. Blauner idolized Davis and introduced himself during a break. “The way you feel about Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
," he said, "is the way I feel about you”. The two became friends. After Blauner’s time in the military was up, he and Davis saw each other often.
Blauner and Bobby Darin
Blauner had just entered the business and was an agent at GACGAC
Gac may refer to:* Gac, a Southeast Asian fruit of the species Momordica cochinchinensis* Guglielmo Achille Cavellini also known as "GAC", an influential art collector and mail artistIn companies:...
, at that time the third largest agency in the world. He met with Harriet Wasser and took Darin under his wing, but Blauner never managed and had just started in the business, but everything he knew, he was willing to teach Darin. He signed Darin with GAC, not caring that he might "screw up his life". He got Darin his first gig in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
and Blauner was wowed. Sometime in 1958, Blauner got transferred to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Darin was there too. Blauner was sharing a house with a guy who worked for Sammy Davis and Darin would sleep on the couch. The two where driving on Sunset Blvd. when Darin said, “I want you to manage me”. Blauner almost crashed the car. He said no because it’s not ethical, him being in the agency, and also because he said, “Bobby, you’re going to be a big star and I don’t know enough, I’ve only been in the business for a minute and a half”. He had turned him down. Later, after he quit GAC, he asked Darin if he still wanted him to be his manager. Darin said “yes” and from then on Blauner was Darin’s official manager until 1965. Blauner once again reminded Darin that he was not a professional and the only other management he did was with Dick Haymes. That was for a very short period until Dick began to drink again, which was early in the management. Darin still said yes. Blauner refers to his management period with Darin as a “comet ride”. One day Darin went to Atlantic Records and said that he wanted to do an album of standards. They wouldn't let him at first because he was a rock and roll singer. Darin finally managed to make the album. It included the famous track, "Mack the Knife".
Blauner and BBS
Bert SchneiderBert Schneider
Berton "Bert" Schneider is an American movie producer, who was behind a number of important and topical films of the late-1960s and early-1970s. The son of Abraham Schneider, onetime president of Columbia Pictures, the younger Schneider tended toward the rebellious. He briefly attended Cornell...
became vice president and treasurer of Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
. Around the time Darin had received his Academy-Award nomination for his character in Captain Newman M.D, Blauner felt that he had done everything he could for Bobby as a manager. They split professionally, but remained friends. Blauner convinced Screen Gems to hire Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination...
as head of the studio. Blauner at that time was also responsible for popular t.v. sitcoms such as, “Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
”, “I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
”, “The Farmer’s Daughter”, and “Hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
”. Most of the sitcoms were ignored by Hollywood. One day Schneider and Bob Rafelson walked up to Blauner and said “We want to do A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
as a T.V. show”. Blauner’s immediate answer was “Go”. They showed The Monkees
The Monkees (TV series)
The Monkees is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from September 1966 to March 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series...
in NBC studios and as Blauner recalled, the incident went like this:
“Right after we showed the pilot, the director of NBC, Mort Warner, stood up and said “I don’t know what the hell we’ve just seen but I think we should put it on the air”.
Blauner formed BBS and during that time, they made Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
, Academy-Award winner for best documentary Hearts and Minds
Hearts and Minds (film)
Hearts and Minds is a 1974 American documentary film about the Vietnam War directed by Peter Davis. The film's title is based on a quote from President Lyndon B. Johnson: "the ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there"...
, The Monkees series, Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces is a 1970 American drama film written by Carole Eastman and Bob Rafelson, and directed by Rafelson. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Susan Anspach. The cast also includes Billy 'Green' Bush, Fannie Flagg, Ralph Waite, Sally Struthers, Lois Smith, Toni Basil, and...
, The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show is a 1971 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from a semi-autobiographical 1966 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry....
, The King of Marvin Gardens
The King of Marvin Gardens
The King of Marvin Gardens is a 1972 American drama film. It stars Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn and Scatman Crothers. It is one of several collaborations between Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson. The majority of the film is set in a wintry Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the plot...
, A Safe Place
A Safe Place
A Safe Place is a 1971 film starring Jack Nicholson, Tuesday Weld, Orson Welles and Phil Proctor and directed by Henry Jaglom....
, and many more.
Current Life
Blauner now resides in California and enjoys the company of his daughters, Moon and Grace.Legacy
During Blauner’s time, he worked with many entertainers. From Bobby to Sammy, Bert to Bob, The Monkees to Richard PryorRichard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
. The list includes Nat Cole, George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, Johnny Ray
Johnny Ray
John Cornelius Ray is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who had a 10-year career from 1981 to 1990. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the California Angels of the American League...
, Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...
, Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination...
, Huey Newton, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
, Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
, Jimmy Scalia
Jimmy Scalia
Jimmy Scalia , is a record producer, the official archivist for the singer Bobby Darin's estate, a disc jockey, writer, and documentarian of American popular and rock music. He currently serves as an adviser and consultant to Darin's former manager Stephen Blauner and The Bobby Darin Estate, as...
, Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Tony Lema
Tony Lema
Anthony David "Tony" Lema was an American professional golfer, who rose to fame in the beginning of golf's modern era, but had his young life and career cut short in an aircraft accident. His most prestigious victory was the 1964 British Open.-Biography:Lema was born in Oakland, California, to...
, and the countless cast and crews of his films. Blauner continues to represent the Bobby Darin estate.
Blauner himself appeared in a few videotaped comedy "blackout" sketched for the late Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs was a Hungarian American comedian and actor.Kovacs' uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comedic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile accident...
during the early 1960s. One sketch was entitled "Whom Dunnit", where he played a dimwitted panalist wearing a "Beanie Copter" hat and sweatshirt emblasioned with the word "Trenton" (which was a Kovacs mocking reference to his hometown of Trenton, NJ).
He was portrayed by John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
in the 2004 Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
biopic Beyond the Sea
Beyond the Sea (film)
Beyond the Sea is a 2004 biographical film based on the life of singer/actor Bobby Darin. Kevin Spacey, who stars in the lead role and used his own singing voice for the musical numbers, co-wrote, directed, and co-produced the film, which takes its title from the Darin song of the same name...
.