Рокси Ротaфель: Америкалық театр кәсіпкерінің өмірі мен қызметі

Early 20th century American theatrical impresario

Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel (July 9, 1882 – January 13, 1936) was an American theatrical impresario and entrepreneur. He is noted for developing the lavish presentation of silent films in the deluxe movie palace theaters of the 1910s and 1920s.

Samuel Rothafel (originally Rothapfel, meaning ‘‘Red Apple’’, the modern German spelling is: Rotapfel) was born in Bromberg, Province of Posen, Prussia, Germany, In 1886, at the age of three, he and his mother boarded the S/S Rugia, sailing from Hamburg to the Port of New York on May 24, 1886. In that same year, Rothafel and his parents moved to Stillwater, Minnesota. In 1895 at the age of thirteen, Rothafel moved to New York with his family. Rothafel had health issues in his later life, mainly angina pectoris. He died of a heart attack in his sleep on January 13, 1936, in New York City aged 53. He is buried in Linden Hill Jewish cemetery in Queens, New York. His wife was Rosa Freedman. His son was Arthur Ingram Rothafel, journalist, writer and ski reporter. His daughter, Beta Rothafel, married Lawrence Harold Levy, the son of Samuel Levy, a New York City lawyer, businessman, and public official, who served as Manhattan borough president. Through Rothafel's granddaughter, Penny (Levy), he is the great grandfather of actress Amanda Peet.

Roxy also made a name for himself on network radio, where he began broadcasting in mid November 1922. Through 1925, live broadcasts of his weekly variety show, Roxy and His Gang from the Capitol Theatre (New York City), became increasingly popular. One estimate from 1924 placed his typical radio audience at about five million listeners, and he was said to receive thousands of pieces of fan mail weekly. After Rothafel left the Capitol, his radio show, now known as The Roxy Hour, was broadcast from the new Roxy Theatre on NBC's Blue Network from 1927 to 1932.