15 Facts About Leland Hayward

Leland Hayward was an American talent agent and theatrical producer.

Leland Hayward was an agent to about 150 artists in Hollywood, and produced the original Broadway stage productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific and The Sound of Music.

Hayward was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska, the grandson of Monroe Leland Hayward, a United States senator from Nebraska.

Leland Hayward's father, Colonel William Hayward, was a celebrated hero of the First World War who commanded the 369th Infantry Regiment, the "Harlem Hellfighters".

Leland Hayward attended The Hotchkiss School and then studied at Princeton University, but dropped out.

Leland Hayward took on a number of jobs including newspaper reporter and press agent, but eventually became a talent agent in Hollywood.

Leland Hayward dated some of his female clients, including Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn.

In 1945, Leland Hayward sold his talent agency and became a producer.

Leland Hayward's 1949 production of South Pacific was a great success.

Leland Hayward produced both the 1948 play Mister Roberts and the 1955 film version.

Leland Hayward was a co-producer of the 1959 show Gypsy.

Leland Hayward produced The Ford 50th Anniversary Show on June 15,1953, a live two-hour simulcast on CBS and NBC that looked back on the history of the United States and the world up to 1953.

In 1953, Leland Hayward conceived Producers' Showcase, a series of 90-minute color spectaculars to be broadcast monthly on NBC.

Illness forced Leland Hayward to withdraw from the project shortly before the first broadcast, and production was assumed by his attorneys, Saul and Henry Jaffe.

Leland Hayward ate only white foods such as potatoes, chicken hash, lamb chops, eggs, custard and vanilla ice cream.