Irving Berlin’s This Is the Army had been a huge success for the ground forces the AAF wanted a similar production. There, he learned that the commander of the Army Air Force (AAF) in Washington, D.C., General Hap Arnold, was looking for a Special Services Officer to produce a benefit show for the AAF Emergency Relief. In July he entered Officer Candidate School in Miami, and on completion of training, reported to the Special Services Division at Mitchell Field on Long Island, New York. A fanatically fastidious man, his germ phobia made shared quarters and latrines unbearable. By his own account, he was not suited to military life. In March 1942, at the age of thirty-five, Lazar enlisted in the U.S. MCA represented many of the great musicians of the day, including Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Gene Krupa, and Benny Goodman. Enjoying both the game of making deals and hobnobbing with celebrities, Lazar gave up legal practice and was hired by MCA to book bands into nightclubs. His first client was a little-known comedian named Henny Youngman. He occasionally acted as an agent on the side. In 1936 Lazar was hired as an attorney for MCA. Through a friend who worked as a booking agent for the Music Corporation of America (MCA), Lazar met Ted Lewis, the vaudeville star, who introduced him to many great performers of the day, including Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and Sophie Tucker. In 1932 he set up a private practice and specialized in foreclosures, a lucrative business during the Great Depression. Lazar worked briefly for a private law firm and as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn. While in law school, he made his first deal: He convinced a professor to teach a cram course, hired representatives at all the local schools to recruit students, and took a commission for every student they brought in. After graduating from Fordham University in the Bronx in 1926, he earned a law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1931. Lazar attended Commercial High School in New York City. In this tough neighborhood, Lazar, who at his tallest was about five feet, four inches tall, learned to punch first and run fast. When he was eight, his family moved to the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. His father was a “butter and egg man.” Born Samuel Lazar on New York City’s Lower East Side, he changed his name to Irving Paul when he was thirteen years old because he thought it sounded more theatrical. His parents, Samuel Mortimer and Stari DeLongpre were Russian-Jewish immigrants. 30 December 1993 in Beverly Hills, California), talent agent and host of famous post-Academy Awards parties.
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