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| Syd Silverman |
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by PETER BESAS
Sime's grandson, Syd (not to be confused with his father, Sid aka Skigie)
was born January 23, 1932, the son of Sid and his wife Marie Saxon
Silverman. From an early age he knew he was destined one day to take over
the reins of the family paper, and even while attending Princeton he'd
sometimes come into the New York office to get some hands-on training in
running VARIETY.
After a stint as a lieutenant in the Army, Syd took over the duties of
publisher in 1956, aged 24. Abel was editor-in-chief and Harold Erichs
handled all financial questions.
But after Abel's death, Syd, aged 40, fully took over the operations of the
paper, trying to keep expenses down as much as possible, and expanding
operations overseas. Even in Sime's day VARIETY had an office in London and
stringers in Paris and Berlin. But Syd now began to open bona fide offices
in Paris, Rome, Sydney, Copenhagen, Munich and Madrid. After the death of
Arthur Ungar, Syd had earlier hired Tom Pryor to run the Daily, giving him
virtual autonomy in the operation. Other bureaus were maintained in Chicago
and Washington.
The European expansion paid off, generated hefty incomes and gave the paper
a unique international prestige. Syd was a family man, and lived in White
Plains with his wife, Jan, and four children, three of whom were gradually
brought in to work on the paper. Even though he was more interested in cars
than journalism or show business, he kept the paper running at its previous
high standard, himself coming in each day to edit copy, or lay out the paper
or see it through the press in Brooklyn each week. His hands were literally
on the nitty gritty of running the sheet. But in the evenings he'd usually
return home to White Plains, NY, rather than hit the niteries and gala film
openings and social functions the way Sime and Abel had.
In those days Syd still smoked a pipe in the office, and was wont to put away a
dram of Dewar's after lunch at the Gaiety Delicatessen on 47th Street or at
the Roxy Bar & Grill down the street from VARIETY on 46th Street where the
first big Cannes issue was first suggested. He sat on the same dais (aka
the "poop deck") that Sime had sat on, first with Abel Green, later with
others such as Bob Landry, Bob Hawkins, Frank Meyer and Mark Silverman. His
secretary, Norma Nannini, (who had also been Abel's gal Friday) was
installed on the third floor of the walk-up building.
After the sale of the paper in 1987, and the move to Park Avenue South under
the new corporate management, Syd put in ever fewer appearances at the
office, and finally stopped coming altogether. Upon ankling definitively
from the sheet in 1992, he dedicated his time to vintage car racing and
launched his own mag on that subject.
He presently spends about half the year in the New York area and the other
half in Boca Raton, Florida in company of his new wife, Joan Hoffman, whom he
married after Jan's death in 1997.
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| Syd Silverman - made VARIETY a global force |
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| Bob Landry - sat on the poop deck with Syd |
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| The handtool by which VARIETY was crafted |
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