Jack Rollins (producer)

Jack Rollins
Rollins in 1984
Born	Jacob Rabinowitz (1915-03-23)March 23, 1915 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	June 18, 2015(2015-06-18) (aged 100) Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Film and television producer and talent manager
Years active	1952–2015

Jack Rollins (born Jacob Rabinowitz; March 23, 1915 – June 18, 2015) was an American film and television producer and talent manager of comedians and television personalities. His first major success came in the 1950s when he managed actor and singer Harry Belafonte. Rollins co-wrote the song Man Piaba with Belafonte on his 1954 debut RCA Victor album Mark Twain and other Folk Favorites. In 1958 he helped create and promote the comedy duo Nichols and May. He went on to help shepherd the careers of several prominent comedians with his partner Charles H. Joffe, beginning in 1960 with Woody Allen and later with Dick Cavett, Billy Crystal, David Letterman, and Robin Williams.

Rollins' work as a film and television producer was closely tied to the artists that he managed. He was credited as an executive producer on many of the films directed by Woody Allen from 1969 to 2015. From 1970 to 1972 he was an executive producer on ABC's The Dick Cavett Show and from 1982 to 1992 he was an executive producer of the long running NBC series Late Night With David Letterman. Between the two shows he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award ten times.

Born Jacob Rabinowitz in Brooklyn, Rollins was the son of Yiddish-speaking immigrants from Russia. In 1933 he graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, and in 1937 earned a bachelor's degree from the City College of New York. He spent two years working for an orphanage in Chicago before being drafted into the United States Army during World War II.