Syd Silverman (January 23, 1932 – August 27, 2017) was the owner and publisher of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine.

Early life

Syd Silverman was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on January 23, 1932, to publisher Sidne Silverman and Vaudeville entertainer Marie (née Saxon) Silverman. He was the grandson of

Sime Silverman Simon J. Silverman (May 19, 1873 – September 22, 1933) was an American journalist and newspaper publisher. He was the founder of the weekly newspaper ''Variety'' in New York City in 1905, which gave theatre and vaudeville reviews and the Hol ...

, who founded ''

''. His father was

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 ...

and his mother was from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. Raised in Harrison, New York, Silverman was educated at the

Manlius School The gens Manlia () was one of the oldest and noblest patrician houses at Rome, from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus, consul in 480 BC, and for ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, then served for two years in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Career

When Silverman's father, Sidne, died in 1950, he became the sole heir to what was then Variety Inc. As he was only 18, a legal guardian oversaw the business until 1956, before he took charge. After that date Syd managed the company as publisher of both the ''Weekly Variety'' in New York and the ''Daily Variety'' in Hollywood, until the sale of both papers in 1987 to

Cahners Publishing RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...

for $64 million. He remained as publisher until 1990 and became chairman of both publications.

Personal life

Silverman's first wife, Jan McNally Silverman, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, died in 1997. They had four children, Michael, Mark, Matthew and Marie Silverman Marich. He later married Dr. Joan Hoffman. Silverman died on 27 August 2017 in Boca Raton, Florida, after a sudden illness. He was 85.

References

1932 births 2017 deaths American magazine editors Variety (magazine) people American publishing chief executives Businesspeople from New York City Manlius Pebble Hill School alumni Princeton University alumni United States Army officers American people of Jewish descent Silverman family 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-stub