George Washington Lederer (c. 1862,

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...

− October 8, 1938) was an American producer and director on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

from 1894 to 1931. He was the husband of actresses

Reine Davies Reine Davies (born Irene Douras; June 6, 1883 – April 5, 1938) was an American singer and actress. Life and career Davies was born on June 6, 1883, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Bernard J. Douras, a lawyer and judge in New York City; ...

and Jessie Lewis and the father of

Charles Lederer Charles Davies Lederer (December 31, 1910 – March 5, 1976) was an American screenwriter and film director. He was born into a theatrical family in New York, and after his parents divorced, was raised in California by his aunt, Marion Davies, ...

Pepi Lederer Pepi Lederer (born Josephine Rose Lederer; March 18, 1910 – June 11, 1935) was an American actress and writer. She was the niece of actress and philanthropist Marion Davies. A high-spirited young woman, Lederer was a lesbian who had relationshi ...

, Glory Lederer and Geraldine Lederer.

Biography

Born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, Lederer began his career when he joined a touring opera company at age 13, as a soprano singer. When he reached the age of 17, he collaborated with the producer Thomas Canary and leased the Casino Theatre, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1897, at age 25, he produced the musical '' The Belle of New York'', which became one of the first American musicals to enjoy enduring success in England, where it ran for over two years. Lederer was one of the first producers of musical ''

Revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

s'' in the U.S., when together with

Sydney Rosenfeld Sydney Rosenfeld (1855–1931) was an American playwright who wrote numerous plays, and adapted many foreign plays. Close to fifty of his creations played on Broadway. Some of his better known plays (though none achieved long-lasting popularit ...

, he presented ''

The Passing Show ''The Passing Show'' was a musical revue in three acts, billed as a "topical extravaganza", with a book and lyrics by Sydney Rosenfeld and music by Ludwig Engländer and various other composers. It featured spoofs of theatrical productions of ...

'' in 1894. In 1903, while he was manager of the New York Theatre he presented the all-black musical ''

In Dahomey ''In Dahomey: A Negro Musical Comedy'' is a landmark 1903 American musical comedy described by theatre historian Gerald Bordman as "the first full-length musical written and played by blacks to be performed at a major Broadway house."Bordman, Ge ...

'', with music by

Will Marion Cook William Mercer Cook (January 27, 1869 – July 19, 1944), better known as Will Marion Cook, was an American composer, violinist, and choral director.Riis, Thomas (2007–2011)Cook, Will Marion ''Grove Music Online.'' Oxford Music Online. Retrieved ...

and lyrics by poet Paul Dunbar. It starred the prominent black vaudeville team of

Bert Williams Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was a Bahamian-born American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He is credited as being ...

and George Walker. Then crossing the Atlantic, it played for seven months, and received a

Royal Command Performance A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commis ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

in England. The

cakewalk The cakewalk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" (dance contests with a cake awarded as the prize) held in the mid-19th century, generally at get-togethers on Black Slavery in the United States, slave plantations before and after End ...

dance, a highlight of the show, became the rage of the town. He was married on October 19, 1889, to Ida Florine Newcombe, with whom he had a son, George W. Lederer Jr. (1891–1924), who became a theatre manager and press agent before dying aged 33. He was divorced from Newcombe and married to Adele Rice on the same day in November, 1894. Their son Maitland Rice Lederer became a motion picture executive. He and Rice were divorced in 1906, and he married actress

in January, 1907. Their daughter Josephine Rose "Pepi" Lederer became a film actress, and son

became a screenwriter. He later married Jessie Lewis, with whom he had two daughters, Glory and Geraldine.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lederer, George Year of birth uncertain 1938 deaths People from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania American theatre directors American Jews American theatre managers and producers Broadway theatre producers