Frieda Fishbein (born March 7, 1886, Romania — died September 6, 1981, Brooklyn, New York) was a Romanian American theatrical, film, television and literary agent for writers including Elmer Rice, George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Anouilh,[1] and Colleen McCullough.
Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Frieda Fishbein |
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Frieda Fishbein from 1933 newspaper |
Born | (1886-03-07)March 7, 1886
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Died | September 6, 1981(1981-09-06) (aged 95)
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Occupation(s) | Theatrical and literary agent |
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Fishbein was born in Romania, the eldest daughter of Molly and Osias Fishbein. The family emigrated to the United States in 1901. She was educated in the New Orleans public school system, then spent the majority of her adult life in New York City, initially Manhattan, moving to Brooklyn in later life.[2]
Fishbein worked as a stenographer in New Orleans in 1903.[3] After moving to New York City, her first job was as a secretary in a movie company.[4] In 1910, she was again working as a stenographer.[5]
In 1929, Fishbein established the Frieda Fishbein Agency, a literary and theatrical agency, in New York City. In the same year, the playwright, director and producer Dore Schary described her as having "a stable of young writers, none of whom she could support, except with praise and enthusiasm." He credited Fishbein with helping to get him his first job in Hollywood as a "$100-a-week writer"[6] by introducing him to Harry Cohn, "the maharajah of Columbia [studio]".[7]
By 1932, she was on the advisory board of the New York Stage Society.[8] Her agency moved to the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1937.[9]
During an interview in 1946 she made the observation that many writers who had returned from the war had bought back partly completed plays. She believed the war had given them stamina and that they were sticking to their craft "more tenaciously".[10]
The following year, she made theatrical headlines across America by developing a new approach to selling shows. She would arrange for scripts to be acted out by semi-pros, filmed and the reel was submitted to prospective producers.[11][12] According to an interview in 1954, she would receive "about ten plays a week". She would accept "about five a year, and would sell about 8-10 options a year."[13]
After Fishbein's death in 1981, her niece, Janice Fishbein, continued as the president of her agency.[14]
Playwrights
Fishbein represented the following writers and plays:
- 1925 – Spencer Brodney's Rebel Smith[15]
- 1929 – Elmer Rice's Street Scene (after it had been turned down by several Broadway producers; it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama)
Wallace Thurman's Harlem
Elmer Rice's See Naples and Die[16]
- 1930 – Moss Hart's No Retreat,[17] Once In A Lifetime (Subsequently, Fishbein brought a lawsuit against Hart contending that she was entitled to a percentage of his royalties from plays produced by Sam Harris. The matter was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.)[18][19]
- 1931 – I.J. Golden's Precedent[20]
- 1934 – Jacques Deval's Prayer for the Living[21]
- 1937 – Simon Gantillon[22] & Harold Igo's Steel[23]
Sidney Shields's Marriage A La King[24]
Martin Cumberland's Climbing[25]
Dr. Conrad K. Gale's Dr. Almighty[26]
- 1938 – Miss Trent Patterson's The Lady Must Eat[27]
Ralph Holmes's The Travelling Salesman and the Farmer's Daughter[28]
Irving Ellman's Crime Doesn't Pay[29]
Maria M. Coxe's If Ye Break Faith[30]
- 1939 – Pamela Burr's The Odd Man[31]
Wilson Starbuck's Sea Dogs[32]
- 1941 – Frederick Schlick's None But The Wounded; Because I Am A Woman[33]
- 1942 – E. Mawby Green and Edward Allen Feilbert's The House In Paris[34]
- 1943 – Howard Buermann and Alfred Golden's Help Wanted – Female[35]
- 1944 – George Taylor and George Savage's The Phoenix and the Dwarfs[36]
- 1946 – Paul Bowles's translation of Sartre's The Respectful Prostitute & No Exit
John E. Miller's The Search for Love (also producer)[37]
- 1947 – Agent for Paul Bowles's adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's The Flies[38]
- 1949 – Madeline Davidson and Maurice Glucher's The Perfect Pattern[39]
Howard Bluerman and Alfred Golden's A Lovely Time[40]
- 1950 – John S. Gordan's For Each Man Kills[41]
- 1951 – Jean-Paul Sartre's The Devil and God[42]
- 1953 – John Sheffield's The Forgotten Land[43]
- 1960 – Weldon Sheerer's California, Here I Come[44]
Fishbein wrote at least one play herself, Pajama Tops, in 1963.[45]
Fishbein appears as a character in Act One, a musical by James Lapine, adapted from the autobiography by Moss Hart. Her role is described "A literary agent. Highly respected in the community, so whatever plays she recommended for production were read with promptness and great enthusiasm. A bit of a character, she's tough and realistic, but very supportive of her client, Moss."[55] The Teacher Resource Guide for the play adds Fishbein is "a highly respected literary agent who connects Hart with the producer Sam Harris, and his colleague, Max Siegel."[56]
Dace, Tish (2011). Martin Sherman: Skipping Over Quicksand. Jeffereson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 16. ISBN 978-0786488131.
New Orleans, Louisiana, City Directory, 1903, page 331
Year: 1910; Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 21, Kings, New York; Roll: T624_969; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0502; FHL microfilm: 1374982
Schary, Dore (1979). Heyday: An Autobiography. Boston.: Little and Brown. p. 55. ISBN 0316772704.
"Theatre Notes". Daily News. New York. June 1, 1937. p. 545. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
Writer's Digest Vol 26. Cincinnati, Ohio: F&W Publications Inc. 1946. p. 76.
Walter Winchell (October 27, 1947). "On Broadway". Chillicothe Gazette. Chillicothe, Ohio. p. 6. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
Danton Walker (October 10, 1947). "Broadway". Daily News. New York. p. 132. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
Writer's Digest Vol 34. Cincinnati, Ohio: F&W Publications Inc. 1954. p. 49.
Bach, Steven (2002). Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo. p. 52. ISBN 0306811359.
Bach, Steven (2002). Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo. p. 78. ISBN 0306811359.
"Theatre Notes". Daily News. New York. March 2, 1937. p. 151. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
Louis Sheaffer (April 23, 1937). "Broadway Album". Times Union. Brooklyn, New York. p. 14. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
"Theatre Notes". Daily News. New York. March 20, 1938. p. 82. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
"Theatre Notes". Daily News. New York. March 27, 1938. p. 424. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
Kazacoff, George (1989). Dangerous Theatre: The Federal Theatre Project as a Forum for New Plays. Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibris. p. 214. ISBN 1456887378.
"All Play To Her". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. August 19, 1939. p. 6. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
"New Scripts". Daily News. New York. June 8, 1941. p. 326. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
"What's new among books and plays". Dramatics: The Educational Magazine for Directors, Teachers, and Students of Dramatic Arts (Vol 16, Issue 1 ed.). Cincinnati, Ohio: Educational Theatre Association. October 1944. p. 32.
"New Ewing Production". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. May 29, 1949. p. 21. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
"Summer Test for Time". The Billboard (Vol 61, No. 27 ed.). New York City: Nielson Business Media Inc. July 1949. p. 51.
"What's Doing". The News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. August 29, 1951. p. 16. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
Mayorga, Margaret (1954). The Best Short Plays of 1953-1954. New York: Dodd and Mead. p. 129.
Rideout, Walter B (2007). Sherwood Anderson: A Writer in America, Volume 2. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-0299220235.
Marybeth Allen (May 6, 1971). "Writer Creates Suspense". The Daily Register. Red Bank, New Jersey. p. 17. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
Larsen, Michael (2006). How to get a literary agent. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks. p. 19. ISBN 1402205600.
Noton, T.A. (1983). Getting your foot in the editorial door. Lakeland, Florida: TCW Marketing Group. p. 19. ISBN 0910459002.
Mary=-Beth Allen (December 4, 1977). "A mystery-music merger". The Daily Register. Red Bank, New York. p. 34. Retrieved March 26, 2022.