Samuel Tecumseh Zolotow[1] (May 18, 1898 – October 21, 1993)[2] was an American theater reporter for The New York Times who was known for his tenacity in getting the details about how Broadway shows were performing, relentlessly pursuing producers, press agents and the crowds attending opening nights to get the details he needed for his stories and columns during his half century at the newspaper.
He worked alongside such critics as Brooks Atkinson, Clive Barnes, George S. Kaufman, Stanley Kauffmann, Walter Kerr, Howard Taubman and Alexander Woollcott.
[3] A May 1969 retirement party was attended by 500 at the Playbill Restaurant in the Royal Manhattan Hotel, with best wishes sent by individuals from the theater, such as Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne and Leslie Uggams, as well as from Mayor John Lindsay, Senator Jacob K. Javits and President Richard Nixon.
[4] On the side, Zolotow wrote a guide for new theater productions, ran a messenger service and early on would take wagers on horses.
[3] A resident of Santa Monica, California, Zolotow died of stomach cancer on October 21, 1993, at age 94 at the Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital in West Los Angeles.