Who

Jimmy Nederlander is the chairman of the Nederlander Organization, the second-largest theater chain in New York, and the patriarch of New York's most prominent theater family.

Backstory

The Nederlander Organization was founded by David Nederlander in 1912 with a single theater in Detroit; his son, Jimmy, joined the company in the early 1940s after dropping out of college. Jimmy was determined to expand the family business and purchased venues in Cleveland, Chicago, and Minneapolis with his father in the 1950s and 60s, before landing in New York in '65 after he acquired the Palace Theatre on 47th and Broadway. Following his father's death in 1967, Jimmy continued to expand and today the Nederlander Organization owns and/or runs the Minskoff, Neil Simon, Palace, Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, the Brooks Atkinson, Lunt-Fontanne, Marquis, and Nederlander Theatre, as well as venues in Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Tucson, Detroit, and London.

The company has produced (or co-produced) more than 300 plays and musicals over the years, including such classics as Noises Off, La Cage aux Folles, and The Will Rogers Follies. (More recent shows include The Times They Are A-Changin, Tarzan, The Odd Couple, Fiddler on the Roof, and Wicked.) A legendary figure on Broadway—he received a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2004—Nederlander continues to work at the company along with his son, Jimmy Jr.

Family ties

The Nederlanders are a big bunch—and almost all of them work in the theater business. In addition to heir-apparent Jimmy Jr., there's brother Robert, who's a partner in the family business, as is Robert's son Eric. (It was Eric Nederlander who appeared in the tabloids when his wife of less than a month, Jessica Sklar, left him in 1998 for Jerry Seinfeld.) James also has a nephew and a niece—Amy Nederlander-Case and Scott Nederlander—who are theater producers.

Medical report

A stroke in late 1980s slowed Jimmy down—and he's now in his mid-80s—but he continues to be very active in the family business.

On the side

Along with his brother Robert, Jimmy put up money in 1973 to help pal George Steinbrenner purchase the Yankees; Robert served as the team's managing general partner in 1990-91.

Personal

Nederlander has been married three times to two different women. (He married and divorced his first wife twice.) His current wife is Charlene Nederlander, whom he married in 1969. (The Times once described the relationship as "on and off with the regularity of a coffeemaker.") The couple live in an apartment at 838 Fifth Avenue that he purchased from investor Michael Price for $13.5 million in 2006. (Previously, the Nederlanders lived at 515 Park.) In March 2007, they purchased a 5,400-square foot, $5.5 million home in Palm Beach, Fla. They also own a summer home in Southampton.