PASTOR, TONY

(1835-1908)

Antonio Pastor was born in New York and began performing as a child on the temperance circuit and as a child prodigy at P. T. Barnum's Museum in 1846. He also worked inminstrelshows and as a circus entertainer. Pastor opened his first theatre in New York in 1865 with the goal of making the variety stage family friendly. In 1881, Pastor built a large theatre onFourteenth Streetas a home to what he billed asvaudeville, a field in which he became known as a premiere producer. Pastor served as a participating master of ceremonies and was a significant force in nurturing performers, including George M. Cohan, Emma Carus, Maggie Cline,Nat C. Goodwin, Lillian Russell, and Joe Weber and Lew Fields, among many others.