Sheldon Harvey "Shelly" Gross (May 20, 1921 – June 19, 2009) was an American producer and promoter of concerts and theatrical performances, who developed a number of venues in suburban areas outside major cities on the East Coast together with Lee Guber, bringing major stars and diverse entertainment options to local areas that previously could only be seen in major cities at significantly higher prices.

Early life and education

Gross was born on May 20, 1921, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. There he attended Central High School, where he met future partner Lee Guber after the two were seated next to each other in alphabetical order, graduating as valedictorian. After graduating from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1942 with a

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

key, he attended Harvard Law School, but dropped out after coming to the realization that he didn't want to be a lawyer. He enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, serving as a communications officer in the South Pacific and attaining the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. After completing his military service, Gross attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, graduating in 1947 with a master's degree in journalism.Hevesi, Dennis
"Shelly Gross, Producer for Broadway and Suburbs, Dies at 88"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', June 25, 2009. Accessed June 25, 2009.Morrison, John F
"Shelly Gross, 88, Music Fair co-founder"
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', June 23, 2009. Accessed June 25, 2009.

Television

His first media job was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he was a newscaster on station WFPG-TV. He took a spot at

WFIL WFIL (560 AM) is a radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with a Christian radio format consisting of teaching and talk programs. Owned by Salem Media Group, studios and transmitter facilities are shared with co-owned WNT ...

in Philadelphia, where was recognized as 1954's ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' Announcer of the Year. Gross was looking to shift out of television, recalling that the station "had me selling storm windows and beer", making him frustrated by the lack of creativity his position offered.Naedele, Walter F
"Sheldon Gross, a founder of Valley Forge Music Fair"
''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

'', June 23, 2009. Accessed June 26, 2009.

Theatrical production

Gross had remained friendly with Guber, and together with Frank Ford they established the

Valley Forge Music Fair The Valley Forge Music Fair was an entertainment venue located in Devon, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, constructed in theater in the round style with seating for 2,932. Initially established in a tent in 1955, a permanent structure was ...

Devon, Pennsylvania Devon is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Tredyffrin and Easttown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,515 at the 2010 census. The area is part of the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs. Geography Devon is located ...

in 1955, initially in a circus tent and later replaced by a permanent structure with 2,900 seats built in

theater in the round A theatre in the round, arena theatre or central staging is a space for theatre in which the audience surrounds the stage. Theatre-in-the-round was common in ancient theatre, particularly that of Greece and Rome, but was not widely explored aga ...

style. The Valley Forge location was shuttered in 1996, leaving Gross conflicted, stating that "Well, it's like watching your mother-in-law drive off a cliff in your brand-new Mercedes - mixed emotions." An abandoned lime pit in

Westbury, New York The Incorporated Village of Westbury is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is located about east of Manhattan. The population was 15,404 at the 2020 census. History The firs ...

, a Long Island suburb of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, became the site of the

Westbury Music Fair The NYCB Theatre at Westbury (originally known as the Westbury Music Fair) is an entertainment venue located in the hamlet of Jericho, outside of Westbury, New York. Constructed as a theatre in the round style with seating for 2,870 that was ori ...

. The original facility was an uninsulated tent that could accommodate 1,850, erected for $120,000 at a central Nassau County location near the

Northern State Parkway The Northern State Parkway (also known as the Northern Parkway or Northern State) is a limited-access state parkway on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. The western terminus is at the Queens– Nassau County line, where the parkway conti ...

and the

Wantagh State Parkway The Wantagh State Parkway is a long state parkway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It links the Ocean Parkway in Jones Beach State Park with the Northern State Parkway in Westbury. The parkway is located approximately east of ...

. With Ford out of the picture, Gross and Guber constructed a theater on the site that could fit 3,000 attendees.

SFX Entertainment LiveStyle, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based live events conglomerate founded by media entrepreneur Robert F. X. Sillerman. The company was formed in June 2012 as SFX Entertainment—the new incarnation of Sillerman's previous company of the same name ...

acquired the facility in 1998, and it is now owned and operated by Live Nation and known as the Capital One Bank Theater at Westbury. Among the stars who performed at their suburban theaters were

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century wit ...

, Milton Berle,

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

, Sammy Davis, Jr.,

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

, Liza Minnelli,

Don Rickles Donald Jay Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include ''Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958) with Clark Gable, Carl Reiner's ''Enter La ...

, Smokey Robinson,

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...

, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder. Similar facilities established by the team included the Painters Mill Music Fair outside of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and the Shady Grove Music Fair outside

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

They also ran the Deauville Star Theater at Miami Beach's

Deauville Hotel Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film Fes ...

and the Camden County Music Fair in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The pair ran a concert division that arranged performances nationwide, including traveling productions of

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

hits such as ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

'', '' Fiddler on the Roof'', ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

'' and '' Man of La Mancha''. They also produced theatrical revivals on Broadway, such as a year-long run of ''

Lorelei The Lorelei ( ; ), spelled Loreley in German, is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...

'' in 1974 with

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

, and a Yul Brenner-led production of ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...

'' that debuted in 1977 and ran for nearly 700 performances.

Personal

He had moved to

Lower Merion, Pennsylvania Lower Merion Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Philadelphia Main Line. The township's name originates with the county of Merioneth in north Wales. Merioneth is an English-language transcription of the ...

1951, remaining there until 2003, when he relocated to

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida, 77 miles north of downtown Miami. , the population was 59,182. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6 ...

. In Florida, he became involved with, and helped raise funds for, the non-profit regional theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks, located in downtown West Palm Beach. Gross enjoyed fishing and playing chess. He also wrote several novels, including ''Havana X'', ''Roots of Honor'' and ''Stardust''. His 1978 book ''Havana X'' was about a CIA plot to assassinate Fidel Castro by taking out a Mafia contract at a cost of two million dollars on the Cuban leader, and was described in a brief review in ''

'' (to paraphrase) as an action-filled manhunt with a somewhat contrived ending, noting that he "writes well and has a cynical view of the men who run the world."Callendar, Newgate
"Crime"
''

'', June 25, 1978. Accessed June 26, 2009. The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphi

named Gross their Person of the Year in 1995 and inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 1999. Gross died at age 88 on June 19, 2009, in Palm Beach Gardens due to

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is any of several types of cancer arising from the tissues of the urinary bladder. Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain. It is caused when epithelial cells that line the bladder become ma ...

. He was survived by his wife, the former Joan Seidel, as well as three sons and four grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Shelley 1921 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists United States Navy personnel of World War II American theatre managers and producers Deaths from cancer in Florida Deaths from bladder cancer Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Harvard Law School alumni Medill School of Journalism alumni People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania People from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Businesspeople from Philadelphia Radio and television announcers United States Navy officers University of Pennsylvania alumni 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Pennsylvania 20th-century American businesspeople