It is with great sadness that we inform you that Ira Bernstein, ATPAM Gold Card Manager, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on December 21, 2023 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Ira came into membership in 1955 and was a charter member of ATPAM’s Diamond Club.
He produced or managed over 40 Broadway shows and tours, including Pippin and Chicago, two of his favorites. His other Broadway credits include Jackie Mason's The World According to Me!, Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean, Sophisticated Ladies, On the Twentieth Century, The Act, The Norman Conquests, 1776, Golden Rainbow, The Apple Tree, Wait Until Dark, Wildcat, The Tenth Man, Silk Stockings, The Boy Friend, Can-Can, and three original Frank Loesser productions: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Where's Charley?, and Guys and Dolls. From 1984 until 1991, Ira managed the Shubert Theater in Los Angeles. Ira also served on the Tony Award nominating committee for two terms.
Ira earned a degree from the Pratt Institute and was an Industrial Designer at Oldsmobile before returning to his first love, show business, a business he learned about at the knee of his dad, Karl N. Bernstein. His father was a theatrical press agent for more than 50 years and one of the founders of ATPAM.
Ira is survived by his wife, Carol Richards Bernstein, whom he wed in 2004 as well as his four children, Barbara, Joseph, Robert, and Liz, and grandchildren from his previous marriage to Florence Henderson.
Donations in his name may be made to the Entertainment Community Fund.
May his memory be a blessing.
