Theatre & dance / Business & brands
James M. Nederlander
1922–2016 · theatrical producer, theater owner
Detroit-born head of the Nederlander Organization, which grew from a Detroit opera house lease into Broadway's second-largest theater owner; a ten-time Tony winner.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
aged 94- Also known as
- Jimmy Nederlander
- Detroit years
- 1922–1960s
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Nederlander was born in Detroit in 1922, one of six children of David T. Nederlander, who in 1912 took a 99-year lease on the old Detroit Opera House on Campus Martius and founded the family's theater business. Jimmy was the first of the brothers to join it: he dropped out of pre-law at the Detroit Institute of Technology and took a box office job at the Lafayette Theater, then served as treasurer of the touring Air Force production of Winged Victory, where he made his Broadway connections. In Detroit the family ran the Shubert-Lafayette, the Riviera and, from 1961, the rebuilt Fisher Theatre. After his father's death in the 1960s the brothers expanded nationally; Jimmy moved to New York and between 1965 and 1985 bought ten Broadway theaters and produced hundreds of plays. The Nederlander Organization became the second-largest owner of Broadway houses, and he won ten Tony Awards from 37 nominations.
Highlights
- Chairman of the Nederlander Organization, founded in Detroit in 1912
- Bought ten Broadway theaters between 1965 and 1985
- Ten Tony Awards from 37 nominations
- Started in the box office of Detroit's Lafayette Theater
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Related place · 1912–1928
Detroit Opera House on Campus Martius (demolished)
Demolished · 1869–1966
His father's 1912 lease on this opera house founded the Nederlander theater business.
Related place · 1961–1960s
Fisher Building
The Nederlanders rebuilt the Fisher Building's movie palace into a 2,200-seat legitimate theater in 1961; it remains Detroit's main Broadway touring house.