B. F. Zeidman (October 4, 1896 – August 7, 1970) was a Hollywood film producer whose long film career began while he was still in his teens during the era of silent film.
Early life He was born Benjamin "Bennie" Zeidman at Philadelphia, the middle of five children raised by Joseph and Clara Zeidman. Bennie's birth-mother most likely died sometime around the turn of the century leaving his father to wed Clara about 1902. His father was Russian, as were his mother and step-mother, and supported his family as an owner of a Philadelphia area butcher shop.1910 US Census RecordsWorld War One Draft Registration
Career As early as 1911 Bennie was doing publicity for Lubin Studios,New York Dramatic Mirror, December 13, 1911 and had gained the nickname "Bennie of Lubinville."The Photo-Play Weekly, May 29, 1915 In 1914 Zeidman worked as publicity manager for the Liberty Motion Picture Company,The Photo-Play Weekly, September 25, 1915 and then for Eaco Films in New York.The Editor, Volume 40 – 1914 Over the next several years he would work as publicist for D. W. Griffith, Fine Arts Films, Yorke-Metro Studios, and Douglas Fairbanks.Motion Picture Studio Directories, 1919 In 1922 he produced the film Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?, and would go on to produce or co-produce some twenty-six films over the following twenty-two years including Prison Train, Grand Central Murder, and the 1936 documentary Beneath the Seas. His last two productions were the Laurel and Hardy films Air Raid Wardens and Nothing But Trouble.B. F. Zeidman IMDb.com
At 101 pounds and just under five feet, Zeidman was once described as the "smallest press agent in captivity".The Moving Picture World, Volume 29 July 29, 1916
Death Bennie Zeidman died in 1970 at the age of 73 in Los Angeles.California Death Index (Bennie Zeidman)Social Security Death Index (Bennie Zeidman)
Filmography As producer
As actor
As editor The Fleet's In (1928) Just Married (1928)
As writer Figures Don't Lie (1927)
References
External links