His first seven productions were hits, starting withClutterbuck in 1949, which he produced in partnership with Irving Jacobs, and he set a precedent in 1958 of having four productions on Broadway simultaneously; all hits:Look Back in Anger,Romanoff and Juliet,Jamaica andThe Entertainer.[3] He often was his own competition for the Tony Award, and he frequently won multiple nominations and/or wins in the same season.[1]
Merrick was known for his love ofpublicity stunts. In 1949, his comedyClutterbuck was running out of steam, but along with discount tickets, he paged hotel bars and restaurants around Manhattan during cocktail hour for a "fictive Mr. Clutterbuck" as a way of generating name recognition for his production, and it helped his show keep alive for another few months.[4] Another famous stunt promoted the poorly reviewed 1961 musicalSubways Are For Sleeping.[1] Merrick found seven New Yorkers who had the same names as the city's seven leading theatercritics:Howard Taubman,Walter Kerr, John Chapman, John McClain,Richard Watts Jr., Norman Nadel, and Robert Coleman. Merrick invited the sevennamesakes to the musical and secured their permission to use their names and pictures in an advertisement alongside quotes such as "One of the few great musical comedies of the last thirty years" and "A fabulous musical. I love it." Merrick then prepared a newspaper ad featuring the namesakes' rave reviews under the heading "7 Out of 7 Are Ecstatically Unanimous About Subways Are For Sleeping". Only one newspaper, theNew York Herald Tribune, published the ad, and only in one edition; however, the publicity that the ad garnered helped the musical remain open for 205 performances (almost six months). Merrick later revealed that he had conceived the ad several years previously, but had not been able to execute it untilBrooks Atkinson retired asThe New York Times theater critic in 1960 since he could not find anyone with the same name.[5]
Merrick joinedThe Lambs in 1950, and in 1968 he joined the board of directors of theRiviera, a hotel and casino on theLas Vegas Strip inLas Vegas, Nevada, alongsideHarvey Silbert and Harry A. Goodman.[6] He also worked with director and choreographerGower Champion, who directed Merrick's production of42nd Street. But on the morning of August 25, 1980, Champion died of a rare blood cancer, and Merrick announced the news himself to both the cast and the audience at the opening night curtain call."This is a very tragic moment," he said. "I'm sorry to have to report that today, Gower Champion died."[7][8][9]
Merrick suffered astroke in 1983, after which he spent most of his time in a wheelchair. He established the David Merrick Arts Foundation in 1998 to support the development of American musicals.[1]
His first marriage was to fellow native-St. Louisan Leonore Beck. They married January 16, 1938,[10] and divorced on January 11, 1963.[11]
His second wife, Jeanne Gibson, was a Kentucky-born Broadway press agent. They met at the Savoy Hotel in London, where Gibson was working as the hotel’s press consultant.[12] She became pregnant in 1962, while Merrick was still married to Beck.[13] Their daughter, Cecilia Ann Merrick, was born January 1963.[14] Gibson and Merrick were married from spring 1963 until October 1966.[15]
He married Etan Aronson (February 24, 1944 - July 26, 2023),[16] a Swedish model and former flight attendant, twice. They first married in September 1969, and divorced in Mexico three weeks later,[17] but the divorce was not finalized in America until 1976.[18] Together, they had a daughter, Marguerita Merrick (born September 1972).[19]
On July 1, 1982, Merrick married actor Karen Prunczik,[20] who originated the role of Anytime Annie and filled in for a week playing the lead character Peggy Sawyer in Merrick’s42nd Street. They divorced in 1983.[21]
Merrick and Aronson married for the second time on Tuesday, August 30, 1983 in Greenwich, Connecticut.[22] In the late 1980s, they adopted two children, Olivia Merrick (born May 1988) and Carl Christian Merrick (born July 1987),[23] although in 1994 Merrick petitioned the court to cancel the adoption.[24] Merrick and Aronson divorced again in October 1999, after lengthy divorce proceedings.[25]
Merrick met Natalie Lloyd (born Natalie Ting Lloyd, Shanghai, 1954; formerly married to Jose Teresa) in the late 1980s when she was working as a receptionist in the office of William Goodstein, Merrick's lawyer.[26] They started living together almost immediately, while Merrick was still married to Aronson. Merrick and Lloyd married on November 23, 1999 inDallas, Texas, less than six months before Merrick’s death on April 25, 2000.[27]
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 47.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 252.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 189.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 244.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 251.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 399.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 437.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 460.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 482.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"Daily News".Newspapers.com. October 27, 1999. p. 32. RetrievedDecember 19, 2022.
^Kissel, Howard (1993).David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography. New York. p. 484.ISBN1-55783-172-6.OCLC28800530.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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