Samuel Roxy Rothafel

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Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel (9 July 1882, Stillwater, Minnesota - 13 January 1936, New York City) was a showman of the 1920s silent film era and the impresario for many of the great movie palaces that he managed such as the Capitol, the Strand, and his eponymous Roxy Theatre in New York City (opened March 11, 1927, demolished October 1960). He also opened Radio City Music Hall in 1932, which featured the "Roxyettes", later renamed the Rockettes.

Rothafel has been credited with many movie presentation innovations including syncing orchestral music to movies (in the silent screen era) and having multiple projectors to effect seamless reel changes. The book The Best Remaining Seats by Ben Hall (1961), gives a good overview of the grand movie palaces of the 1920s and, specifically, of Roxy himself.