Leonard Sillman

Leonard Sillman (May 9, 1908 – January 23, 1982) was an American Broadway performer, composer, and producer born in Detroit, Michigan. He was the brother of June Carroll, the brother-in-law of Sidney Carroll, and the uncle of composer Steve Reich and writer Jonathan Carroll.

Sillman's performing career on Broadway spanned from 1927 to 1942, with credits including the musicals Merry-Go-Round, Polly, Fools Rush In, Who's Who?, and New Faces of 1943. He was also credited as a composer on Broadway productions during this period.

As a producer, Sillman became most closely associated with a recurring series of musical revues collectively known as Leonard Sillman's New Faces. Editions of the series were staged in 1934, 1936, 1943, 1952, 1956, 1962, and 1968. The 1936 edition was adapted into the film New Faces of 1937, and the 1952 production was similarly adapted into the film New Faces. The inaugural 1934 edition featured Henry Fonda, Imogene Coca, and Frances Dewey Wormser. Across the full run of the series, the revues introduced performers including Eartha Kitt, Inga Swenson, John Lund, Van Johnson, Carol Lawrence, Madeline Kahn, Paul Lynde, and Maggie Smith to Broadway audiences.

Songwriter Arthur Siegel, a frequent contributor to the New Faces series, described Sillman's approach to the revue format: Sillman believed the form should function as a potpourri in which something existed for every audience member, that pace was essential, and that the music should be nonstop. Beyond the New Faces series, Sillman produced additional stage works from the 1930s through the late 1960s, among them All in Fun (1940), Mask and Gown (1957), and The Family Way (1965).

In 1959, Citadel Press published Sillman's autobiography, Here Lies Leonard Sillman: Straightened Out at Last. He died on January 23, 1982, in New York City.