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Cy Feuer, the Tony Award-winning theatrical impresario who was also an Oscar-nominated producer and music director, made his debut on the world stage on January 15, 1911 in Brooklyn, New York as Seymour Arnold Feuerman. A talented musician, he began earning a living as a professional trumpeter at the age of fifteen, while still attending high school. The teenage musician first met Abe Burrows at this time. Many years later, as a Broadway producer, he'd hire Burrows to write the book for the legendary classic Guys and Dolls (1955), his first Broadway.
He dropped out of high school but later studied at the Juilliard School. As a professional message, he was employed by the Roxy Theater and Radio City Music Hall orchestras before being hired in 1938 to tour with Leon Belasco and His Society Orchestra. After the band played Burbank, California, he remained behind in the Golden State and was hired by the Poverty Row studio Republic Pictures to work in their music department.
He served as an arranger, composer and music director, racking up over 125 credits that brought him five Oscar nominations for his film scores. He did a three-year hitch in the service during World War II. After returning to Hollywood after the war, he grew disenchanted with the life of a movie musical director, quitting Tinsel Town in 1947 to have a go on the Great White Way.
He became partners with CBS Radio's comedy programing chieftain Ernest H. Martin, and produced the musical comedy Where's Charley? (1952) in 1947, an adaptation of Charley's Aunt (1941) featuring the talents of Ray Bolger. It was a hit, toured the country, and then returned to Broadway for another long run.
The musical comedy production team of Feuer & Martin had an even greater success in 1950 with Guys and Dolls (1955), the classic, often-revived musical based on the tales of Damon Runyon that brought them their first Tony Award. They were also Tony recipients (for Best Musical and Best Producer of a Musical, a separate award) for the 1964 musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), which also won the Pulitzer Prize. Other shows they produced were Can-Can (1960), The Boy Friend (1971), Silk Stockings (1957), and Neil Simon's "Little Me." Feuer also was a director, helming "Little Me" and the 1979 musical adaptation of I Remember Mama (1948), which was not a success despite music by Richard Rodgers.
Feuer scored a major triumph when he produced the 1972 film version of the Broadway hit Cabaret (1972). The movie won eight Oscars and garnered Feuer an Academy Award nomination (his sixth) as Best Producer (though "Cabaret" was upset in the Best Picture category, losing out to The Godfather (1972)). With Martin, he produced the 1985 screen adaptation of A Chorus Line (1985), which proved to be one of their biggest flops.
He served as president and then chairman of the League of American Theatres and Producers from 1989-2003. In 2003, he was the recipient of a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Cy Feuer died on May 17, 2006 from bladder cancer in New York City. He was 95 years old.
