Jack Segal, longtime personal manager and the inspiration for Woody Allen’s “Broadway Danny Rose,” died Jan. 12 of natural causes in West Orange, N.J. He was 98.
Segal entered the business booking vaudeville performers and eventually hit the big time with such clients as Eddie Cantor and Abbott and Costello. During his peak years as an agent, he reportedly booked more than 120 venues a night.
Like the Danny Rose character, he was known for promoting unusual acts including a one-legged tap dancer, a Lilliputian stripper and piano-playing pigeons.
Segal, who served as executive secretary of the National Conference of Personal Managers, was also a member of the New York Friar’s Club and Yiddish Artists and Friends.
He is survived by a daughter and son, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Contributions can be made to Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, 3551 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140.
