Ernest H. Martin


Ernest Harold Martin was an American Broadway producer who wrote the book for a musical, owned a Broadway theater and produced motion pictures.
He is known for the Broadway productions of Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, as well as the films A Chorus Line and Cabaret.

Early life and education

He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was elected president of the senior class.

Career

Martin began his career at CBS Radio, where he quickly rose to the position of head of programming.
Martin, singly or with Cy Feuer, was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical five times with Walking Happy ; Skyscraper, Little Me ; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Guys and Dolls. Little Me and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying also garnered them nominations for the Tony Award for Best Producer of a Musical. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Guys and Dolls won the Tony Award for Best Musical, while "Business" also won the Best Producer Tony and the Pulitzer Prize.
Feuer and Martin owned Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre from 1960 to 1965. They were so successful as producers on Broadway that they were dubbed "The Golddust Twins". Martin was a master at conceptualization and initiator of many Broadway and film classics, while Feuer was a master at directing and executing on the ideas. Feuer was known to say, "Ernie was the sparkplug and I was the engineer".
Martin managed the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera from 1976 to 1980 as well as its sister Civic Light Opera in San Francisco, bringing Broadway shows to the West Coast and creating and cultivating new shows prior to taking them to Broadway.

Personal life

He was married three times, twice to women named Nancy, and his third wife was Twyla Martin. One of his wives was the actress Nancy Guild, to whom he was married from 1951 to 1975; they had three children: Cecilia and Polly, as well as Liz.

Broadway productions