{{Short description|American theatrical and literary agent (1886–1981)}} {{Use American English|date = October 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Frieda Fishbein | image = File:Frieda_Fishbein_(1886-1981)_Romanian_American_theatrical_and_literary_agent_from_a_1933_newspaper.png | caption = Frieda Fishbein from 1933 newspaper | birth_date = {{birth date|1886|03|07}} | birth_place = Romania | death_date = {{death date and age|1981|09|06|1886|03|07}} | death_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | occupation = Theatrical and literary agent }}
'''Frieda Fishbein''' (March 7, 1886 - September 6, 1981) was a Romanian-American theatrical, film, television and literary agent for writers including Elmer Rice, George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Anouilh,<ref>{{cite book |date= 2011 |last=Dace |first=Tish |title=Martin Sherman: Skipping Over Quicksand |publisher=McFarland |location=Jeffereson, North Carolina |page=16 |isbn=978-0786488131}}</ref> and Colleen McCullough.
==Personal life and education== Fishbein was born in Romania, the eldest daughter of Molly and Osias Fishbein. The family emigrated to the United States in 1901. She was educated in the New Orleans public school system, then spent the majority of her adult life in New York City, initially Manhattan, and then moving to Brooklyn in later life.<ref>{{cite news |date=1981-09-10 |work=The New York Times |title=Frieda Fishbein, Book Agent |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/09/10/issue.html |location= New York |page=D23 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref>
==Work== Fishbein worked as a stenographer in New Orleans in 1903.<ref>New Orleans, Louisiana, City Directory, 1903, page 331</ref> After moving to New York City, her first job was as a secretary in a movie company.<ref>{{cite news |date=1981-09-10 |work=The New York Times |title=Frieda Fishbein, Book Agent |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/09/10/issue.html |location= New York |page=D23 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> In 1910, she was again working as a stenographer.<ref>Year: 1910; Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 21, Kings, New York; Roll: T624_969; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0502; FHL microfilm: 1374982</ref>
In 1929, Fishbein established the ''Frieda Fishbein Agency'', a literary and theatrical agency, in New York City. In the same year, the playwright, director and producer Dore Schary described her as having "a stable of young writers, none of whom she could support, except with praise and enthusiasm." He credited Fishbein with helping to get him his first job in Hollywood as a "$100-a-week writer"<ref>{{cite news |date=1981-09-10 |work=The New York Times |title=Frieda Fishbein, Book Agent |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/09/10/issue.html |location= New York |page=D23 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> by introducing him to Harry Cohn, "the maharajah of Columbia [studio]".<ref>{{cite book |date=1979 |last=Schary |first=Dore |title=Heyday: An Autobiography |publisher=Little and Brown |location=Boston. |page=55 |isbn=0316772704}}</ref>
By 1932, she was on the advisory board of the New York Stage Society.<ref>{{cite news |date=1932-05-15 |work=The Brooklyn Daily |title=NY Stage Society Resembles London's |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/59987287/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1|location= Brooklyn, New York |page=63 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> Her agency moved to the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1937.<ref>{{cite news |date=1937-06-01 |work=Daily News |title=Theatre Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/421534288/?terms=Frieda%20Fishbein&match=1 |location=New York |page=545 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref>
During an interview in 1946, she made the observation that many writers who had returned from the war had bought back partly completed plays. She believed the war had given them stamina and that they were sticking to their craft "more tenaciously".<ref>{{cite book |date=1946 |title=Writer's Digest Vol 26 |publisher=F&W Publications Inc |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |page=76 }}</ref>
The following year, she made theatrical headlines across America, by developing a new approach to selling shows. She would arrange for scripts to be acted out by semi-pros, filmed and the reel was submitted to prospective producers.<ref>{{cite news |date=1947-10-27 |work=Chillicothe Gazette |title=On Broadway |author=Walter Winchell |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/291833512/?terms=Frieda%20Fishbein&match=1 |location= Chillicothe, Ohio |page=6 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1947-10-10 |work=Daily News |title=Broadway |author=Danton Walker |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/410907612/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=132 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> According to an interview in 1954, she would receive "about ten plays a week". She would accept "about five a year, and would sell about 8-10 options a year."<ref>{{cite book |date=1954 |title=Writer's Digest Vol 34 |publisher=F&W Publications Inc |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |page=49 }}</ref>
After Fishbein's death in 1981, her niece, Janice Fishbein, continued as the president of her agency.<ref>{{cite news |date=1981-09-10 |work=The New York Times |title=Frieda Fishbein, Book Agent |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/09/10/issue.html |location= New York |page=D23 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref>
===Plays and playwrights=== Fishbein represented the following writers and plays: {| class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:left |- ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Playwright ! scope="col" | Play ! scope="col" | Notes ! scope="col" | Ref. |- | 1925 | Spencer Brodney |''Rebel Smith'' | |<ref>{{cite book |title=Rebel Smith, a play in three acts |oclc=38077758 }}</ref> |- | 1929 | Elmer Rice |''Street Scene'' | Fishbein took the play on after it had been turned down by several Broadway producers; it went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama | |- | 1929 | Elmer Rice |''See Naples and Die'' | |<ref>{{cite book |title=''See Naples and Die'': a comedy in three acts|oclc=51507855 }}</ref> |- | 1929 | Wallace Thurman |''Harlem'' | | |- | 1930 | Moss Hart |''No Retreat'' | |<ref>{{cite book |date=2002 |last=Bach |first=Steven |title=Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart |publisher=Da Capo |location=Cambridge, Mass. |page=52 |isbn=0306811359}}</ref> |- | 1930 | Moss Hart |''Once In A Lifetime'' |Fishbein brought a lawsuit against Hart contending that she was entitled to a percentage of his royalties from plays produced by Sam Harris. The matter was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. |<ref>{{cite news |date=1981-09-10 |work=The New York Times |title=Frieda Fishbein, Book Agent |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/09/10/issue.html |location= New York |page=D23 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=2002 |last=Bach |first=Steven |title=Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart |publisher=Da Capo |location=Cambridge, Mass. |page=78 |isbn=0306811359}}</ref> |- | 1931 | I.J. Golden |''Precedent'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1933-04-14 |work=The Morning Call |author=Paul Shinkman |title=Present Plight of American Theater Fails to Daunt Aspiring Playwrights |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/553322864/?terms=Frieda%20Fishbein&match=1 |location= New Jersey |page=38 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- | 1934 | Jacques Deval |''Prayer for the Living'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1934-04-22 |work=Daily News |title=3 Marx Brothers Yearn To turn straight in fall |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/416797374/?terms=Frieda%20Fishbein&match=1 |location= New York |page=104 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- | rowspan="4"|1937 | Simon Gantillon and Harold Igo |''Steel'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1937-03-02 |work=Daily News |title=Theatre Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/414712819/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=151 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1937-04-23 |work=Times Union |title=Broadway Album |author=Louis Sheaffer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/576165412/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= Brooklyn, New York |page=14 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |Sidney Shields |''Marriage A La King'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1937-10-03 |work=Daily News |title=Harris may do Lewis play: Virginia in 2D version |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/415469718/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=332 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |Martin Cumberland |''Climbing'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1937-10-17 |work=Daily News |title=Messrs Evans and Aherne may alternate at St. James |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/415457467/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=442 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |Dr. Conrad K. Gale |''Dr. Almighty'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1937-11-23 |work=Daily News |title=Thayer writes satire on censors: 'Bovary' to give stage lesson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/420814086/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=97 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- | rowspan="4"|1938 |Miss Trent Patterson |''The Lady Must Eat'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1938-03-20 |work=Daily News |title=Theatre Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/421196713/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=82 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |Ralph Holmes |''The Travelling Salesman and the Farmer's Daughter'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1938-03-27 |work=Daily News |title=Theatre Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/421705926/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=424 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |Irving Ellman |''Crime Doesn't Pay'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1938-05-01 |work=Daily News |title=Kern Picks Operetta Cast: Lindsey to Desert Musicals |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/421700534/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=396 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |Maria M. Coxe |''If Ye Break Faith'' | |<ref>{{cite book |date=1989 |last=Kazacoff |first=George |title=Dangerous Theatre: The Federal Theatre Project as a Forum for New Plays |publisher=Xlibris |location=Bloomington, Indiana |page=214 |isbn=1456887378}}</ref> |- | rowspan="2"|1939 |Pamela Burr |''The Odd Man'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1939-08-19 |work=The Evening Sun |title=All Play To Her|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/369658938/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= Baltimore, Maryland |page=6 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |Wilson Starbuck |''Sea Dogs'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1939-08-21 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |title=Classmates Welcome New Singing Starlet |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/52799558/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= Brooklyn, New York |page=7 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |1941 |Frederick Schlick |''None But The Wounded''<br />''Because I Am A Woman'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1941-06-08 |work=Daily News |title=New Scripts |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/432489358/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=326 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |1942 |E. Mawby Green and Edward Allen Feilbert |''The House In Paris'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1942-11-10 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |title=Secures Production Rights |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/543586091/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= Brooklyn, New York |page=10 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |1943 |Howard Buermann and Alfred Golden |''Help Wanted – Female'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1943-12-10 |work=Daily News |title=305 from services enter play contest; Pemberton has gag |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/443186649/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=503 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |1944 |George Taylor and George Savage |''The Phoenix and the Dwarfs'' | |<ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 1944 |magazine=Dramatics: The Educational Magazine for Directors, Teachers, and Students of Dramatic Arts |title=What's new among books and plays |edition=Vol 16, Issue 1 |publisher=Educational Theatre Association |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |page=32}}</ref> |- | rowspan="3"|1946 |Paul Bowles |''The Respectful Prostitute'' |Translation of Sartre | |- |Paul Bowles |''No Exit'' |Translation of Sartre | |- |John E. Miller |''The Search for Love'' |Fishbein also produced |<ref>{{cite news |date=1946-04-08 |work=Oakland Tribune |title=Curtain Calls: Critics pass up 10 best plays |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/205490279/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= Oakland, California |page=4 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |1947 |Paul Bowles |''The Flies'' |Adaptation of Sartre's play |<ref>{{cite web |url= https://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?doc.view=entire_text&docId=InU-Li-VAA1255 |title=French Literature, ca 1750-1977 |website=indiana.edu |access-date= 2022-01-03}}</ref> |- | rowspan="2"|1949 |Madeline Davidson and Maurice Glucher |''The Perfect Pattern'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1949-05-29 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |title=New Ewing Production |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/59526816/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= Brooklyn, New York |page=21 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |Howard Bluerman and Alfred Golden |''A Lovely Time'' | |<ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 1949 |magazine=The Billboard |title=Summer Test for Time |edition=Vol 61, No. 27 |publisher=Nielson Business Media Inc |location=New York City |page=51}}</ref> |- |1950 |John S. Gordan |''For Each Man Kills'' | |<ref>{{cite book |title=For Each Man Kills |oclc=688560437 }}</ref> |- |1951 |Jean-Paul Sartre |''The Devil and God'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1951-08-29 |work=The News and Observer |title=What's Doing |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/654490280/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= Raleigh, North Carolina |page=16 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |1953 |John Sheffield |''The Forgotten Land'' | |<ref>{{cite book |date=1954 |last=Mayorga |first=Margaret |title=The Best Short Plays of 1953-1954 |publisher=Dodd and Mead |location=New York |page=129}}</ref> |- |1960 |Weldon Sheerer |''California, Here I Come'' | |<ref>{{cite news |date=1960-01-20 |work=The Sandusky Register |title=Sioux City Drama Group Discovers Hungarian Play|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/511047742/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location=Sioux City, Iowa|page=30|accessdate=2022-03-26}}</ref> |- |}
Fishbein wrote at least one play herself, ''Pajama Tops'', in 1963.<ref>{{cite news |date=1963-06-07 |work=The Gazette and Daily |title='Pajama Tops' is off totem pole schedule |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/390076550/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= New York |page=27 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref>
===Authors=== She represented authors Peter Kenna,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110371594 |title=Peter Kenna papers |website=www.archival.sl.nsw.au |access-date= 2022-01-03}}</ref> Sherwood Anderson,<ref>{{cite book |date=2007 |last=Rideout |first=Walter B |title=Sherwood Anderson: A Writer in America, Volume 2 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison, Wisconsin |page=178 |isbn=978-0299220235}}</ref> Katherine Hoskins,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://library.udel.edu/special/findaids/data/pdf/mss0200.pdf |title=Katherine Hoskins Papers|website=library.udel.edu |access-date= 2022-01-03}}</ref> Donald Burgett<ref>{{cite news |date=1967-11-12 |work=Detroit Free Press |title=Donald Burgett: The Long Day of Horror is Past |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/98781329/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= Detroit, Michigan |page=171 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref> and Alice White.<ref>{{cite news |date=1971-05-06 |work=The Daily Register |title=Writer Creates Suspense |author=Marybeth Allen |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/516759752/?terms=%22Alicen%20White%22%20red%20bank&match=1 |location=Red Bank, New Jersey |page=17 |access-date=2022-01-26}}</ref>
Her biggest financial success came from representing Australian author Colleen McCullough. According to McCullough, she was making her sister a tuna fish casserole for her birthday and while looking through a list of agents, she found Fishbein's name, which she took to be a sign.<ref>{{cite book |date=2006 |last=Larsen |first=Michael |title=How to get a literary agent |publisher=Sourcebooks |location=Naperville, Illinois |page=19 |isbn=1402205600}}</ref> McCullough's first novel ''Tim'' (1974) was followed by the global hit ''The Thorn Birds'' (1977), selling over 33 million copies. As a "multi-million dollar product",<ref>{{cite book |date=1983 |last=Noton |first=T.A. |title=Getting your foot in the editorial door |publisher=TCW Marketing Group |location=Lakeland, Florida |page=19 |isbn=0910459002}}</ref> Fishbein was able to retire on her share of the book.<ref>{{cite news |date=1978-06-25 |work=Evansville Press |title=Marriage is still eluding 'The Thorn Birds' author |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/772973104/?terms=Frieda%20Fishbein&match=1 |location= New York |page=23 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1977-12-04 |work=The Daily Register |author=Mary=-Beth Allen |title=A mystery-music merger |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/517049711/?terms=%22Frieda%20Fishbein%22&match=1 |location= Red Bank, New York |page=34 |access-date=2022-03-26}}</ref>
==Act One== Fishbein appears as a character in ''Act One'', a musical by James Lapine, adapted from the autobiography by Moss Hart. Her role is described "A literary agent. Highly respected in the community, so whatever plays she recommended for production were read with promptness and great enthusiasm. A bit of a character, she's tough and realistic, but very supportive of her client, Moss."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.broadwayworld.com/non-equity-audition/ACT-ONE-Piedmont-Players-Theatre-Inc--2016-9367 |title=Act One - Piedmont Players Theatre Inc. Non Equity Auditions |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.broadwayworld.com |access-date= 2022-01-03}}</ref> The Teacher Resource Guide for the play adds Fishbein is "a highly respected literary agent who connects Hart with the producer Sam Harris, and his colleague, Max Siegel."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.lct.org/media/filer_public/f9/83/f983ec44-fb0e-4e83-956b-2d758a5a7f57/actonestudyguide.pdf |title=Act One Teacher Resource Guide |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.lct.org |access-date= 2022-01-03}}</ref>
==Further reading== {{Portal|Biography}} * ''Act One: An Autobiography of Moss Hart'' (1959) {{ISBN|978-1-250-05089-2}} * ''Heyday: An Autobiography'' by Dore Schary (1979) {{ISBN|0-316-77270-4}} * ''Hollywood Red: The Autobiography of Lester Cole'' (1981) {{ISBN|0-87867-085-8}} * ''Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart'' by Steven Bach (2002) {{ISBN|0-306-81135-9}}
==References== {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fishbein, Frieda}} Category:1886 births Category:1981 deaths Category:American literary agents Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:Romanian emigrants to the United States