Alexander H. Cohen

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Alexander H. Cohen (July 24, 1920 - April 22, 2000) was a prolific American theatrical producer who mounted more than one hundred productions.

Born in New York City, Cohen's first Broadway credit, Ghost for Sale, closed after six performances; he fared better with his second, the thriller Angel Street, which ran for three years. His productions ran the gamut from comedies (Little Murders) to dramas (84 Charing Cross Road, Anna Christie) to musicals (Dear World, A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine) to the classics (King Lear, Hamlet). He also produced stage concerts for Marlene Dietrich, Maurice Chevalier, and Yves Montand, and an evening of comic sketches with Mike Nichols and Elaine May.

Cohen conceived and originated the first Tony Awards telecast in 1967 and helmed many more over the following years. He also produced a number of Emmy Award presentations, specials with Plácido Domingo and Liza Minnelli, and the first and third editions of Night of 100 Stars, which featured a parade of entertainment and sports celebrities performing and/or appearing on the stage of Radio City Music Hall.

Cohen is reputed to be the inspiration for Mel Brook's, "The Producers." He was famous for his publicity stunts and was nicknamed, "The Lord of The Flops," by a New York magazine article.

Cohen was responsible for drawing the performing arts community into the popular and highly successful I Love New York television ad campaign. In 1976, he converted the bankrupt and vacant Manhattan Plaza on Manhattan's West 43rd Street into an apartment complex providing subsidized housing for low-income performers, and he participated in the renovation of a number of legitimate theaters, including the Mechanic in Baltimore, the Locust Street in Philadelphia, and the Hummingbird (O'Keefe) Centre in Toronto.

In 1999, Cohen wrote, produced, directed, and starred in an off-Broadway one-man show, Star Billing, in which he reminisced about his hits, flops, and infamous feuds.

Cohen and his wife, Hildy Parks, had two sons, Gerry and Christopher; he also had a daughter from a previous marriage. He died from emphysema in New York City.

[edit] Selected Broadway credits

Waiting in the Wings (1999)
Sacrilege (1995)
Ah, Wilderness! (1988 revival)
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1988 revival)
Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1984)
Edmund Kean (1983)
I Remember Mama (1979)
6 Rms Riv Vu (1972)
The Unknown Soldier and His Wife (1967)
Black Comedy/White Lies (1967)
The Homecoming (1967)
At the Drop of Another Hat (1966)
Baker Street (1965)
The School for Scandal (1963 revival)
Beyond the Fringe (1962)
At the Drop of a Hat (1959)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949)

[edit] Awards and nominations

2000 Drama Desk Award for Lifetime Achievement (awarded posthumously)
1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance (Star Billing, nominee)
1989 Tony Award for Best Revival (Ah, Wilderness!, nominee)
1989 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival (Long Day's Journey Into Night, nominee)
1984 Tony Award for Best Play (Play Memory, nominee)
1984 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience (La Tragedie de Carmen, winner)
1980 Tony Award for Best Musical (A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, nominee)
1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Foreign Play (Comedians, nominee)
1974 Tony Award for Best Play (Ulysses in Nighttown, nominee)
1973 Theatre World Award (for his contribution to cultivating theater audiences by extending Broadway not only nationally, but internationally, with his exemplary television productions)
1971 Tony Award for Best Play (Home, nominee)
1967 Tony Award for Best Play (The Homecoming, winner)
1967 Tony Award for Best Play (Black Comedy/White Lies, nominee)