1932
31 St James Ave #360, Boston, MA 02116, USA
Having been raised in the Mattapan section of Boston, Cantor had his first theatre experience as a 4-year-old, when he attended a production at the local Yiddish playhouse.
194
Cambridge, MA, USA
Arthur Cantor studied at Harvard from 1946 till 1950.
194
Cambridge, MA, USA
Arthur Cantor studied at Harvard from 1946 till 1950.
1932
31 St James Ave #360, Boston, MA 02116, USA
Having been raised in the Mattapan section of Boston, Cantor had his first theatre experience as a 4-year-old, when he attended a production at the local Yiddish playhouse.
https://www.amazon.com/Playmakers-Broadway-Stuart-W-Little/dp/0370013468/?tag=2022091-20
1971
https://www.amazon.com/Playbill-Magazine-Issue-December-1972/dp/B00PFYGQ22/?tag=2022091-20
1972
Agent manager playwright producer writer
Arthur Cantor was born on March 12, 1920, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Arthur Cantor was born to parents Samuel S. Cantor, who was a salesman, and Lillian Cantor, who was a landsman. He had two sisters. Having been raised in the Mattapan section of Boston, Cantor had his first theatre experience as a 4-year-old, when he attended a production at the local Yiddish playhouse.
From 1932 till 1936 Cantor attended a production at the local Yiddish playhouse. Arthur Cantor studied at Harvard from 1946 till 1950.
Upon his graduation from Harvard in 1950, Cantor worked as a researcher for the Gallup Organization. His research position for the Gallup Organization was interrupted by his service for the Air Forcein World War II. After his service in World War II, Cantor returned to the United States where he took a position as an assistant in the publicity department with the Playwrights Company. Joining the Playwrights company would prove to be quite fruitful for Cantor, as this venture instigated the rest of his career.
Cantor established his own agency, which was located in close proximity to Times Square in New York City, by the early 1950s. In 1951, Cantor handled the publicity for his first show - a comedy called Hook and Ladder, but it was not well received and only lasted one performance. It wasn't until 1955 when Cantor was successful with his work as a publicist, and the show Inherit the Wind is credited for giving him this success. Upon his initial success, the following four years were succeeded by a sequence of critical successes in handling the publicity for Broadway shows including, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Auntie Mame and The Miracle Worker.
1957 was a critical year for the progression of Cantor's career, as it was the year he first contributed to producing a theatre production. Cantor decided to invest $2,000 into a new musical about a 'charming con man in a Midwestern town' - this musical was later known as the Music Man. The production of Paddy Chayefsky's The Tenth Man, alongside producer Saint Subber, is the second notable work that is responsible for Cantor's respected status as a producer on Broadway. The work, which debuted on stage in 1959, had previously been rejected by countless producers for it told an unusual story of a young Jewish girl that was possessed by a demon. The Tenth Man, directed by Tyrone Guthrie, later went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
His successes continued through 1961, when he produced Chayefsky's Gideon as well Tad Mosel's All the way Home, the latter went on to later win a Pulitzer Prize. Another great success for Cantor came a year later in 1962 when he produced Mr. Gardner's A Thousand Clowns, which starred Jason Robards.
Partially incapacitated by a stroke that occurred in late 1998, Cantor's ability to work slowed but did not stop entirely. He was set to produce a piece, titled Scent of Roses, by South African writer Lisette Lecat Ross in the fall of 1999, but it was halted prior to reaching Broadway.
Arthur Cantor was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award six times: in 1960, with collaborator Saint-Subber, as a producer of Best Play nominee "The Tenth Man;" in 1961, with a collaborator Fred Coe, as a producer of Best Play nominee "All the Way Home;" in 1962, again with Coe, as Best Producer (Dramatic) and as a producer of Best Play nominee "Gideon;" in 1963, again with Coe, as a producer of Best Play nominee "A Thousand Clowns;" and in 1972, with a collaborator David Merrick, as a producer of Best Play nominee "Vivat! Vivat Regina!" He never won. Nevertheless, Arthur Cantor won Drama Critics' Circle Awards and Pulitzer Prizes for his masterpieces "The Tenth" and "All the way Home."
Arthur Cantor knew theater was a terrible business to get involved in, but he figured if he failed he could be a press agent again.
Arthur Cantor was recognized for being a 'hands-on' producer and was involved in nearly every stage of production, including managing the funding and all publicity for the shows. Cantor was the most superb and ingenious businessman and generous as far as his knowledge was concerned. His gift was putting on quality shows for the least amount of money - quality shows. It made the British become dedicated to theater, so theater was equated with going to church.
Cantor never failed to add some press agent touches to boost his shows. In 1993, for “Beau Jest,” for example, he designed an ad depicting the armless statue Venus de Milo stating “Two thumbs up?” and advertised such lines as “Last 356 performances” and “ ‘Beau Jest' -now and sort of forever.”
Cantor had an ability to see a play’s life beyond Broadway. Although his “On Golden Pond” did poorly in New York (he blamed critics) when it opened in 1979, it had a very profitable afterlife as an Academy Award-winning motion picture and in other theatrical productions.
Arthur Cantor married Deborah Rosmarin. She is deceased. They had got children: David Jonathan, Jacqueline Hope. Arthur Cantor was also the father of an actor and journalist Max Cantor.
