An entertainment attorney representing many of the most prominent stars in the music industry...a film and theatre producer, international corporate consultant and prime participant in some of the most notable musical successes and landmark productions on screen and stage...author... lecturer...and music industry pioneer, Freddie Gershon's career in the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s has paralleled the evolution of music, film and theatre.

After graduating from the Columbia Law School in 1964, Freddie Gershon began practicing at a theatrical law firm before becoming "Freddie-the-Lawyer"...the first "new-wave" practitioner in New York for such emerging talents as film director Michael Ritchie ("Downhill Racer" and "The Candidate"), Ron Field (choreographer/director of "Cabaret," "Zorba," and "Applause"), playwright Tom Eyen ("Dreamgirls"), composers Neil Sedaka, Marvin Hamlisch, Carole Bayer Sager, Lesley Gore and Shel Silverstein, and performing artists including Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Dr. Hook, Orleans, Jack Bruce, Phil Ochs, Chicago, Peter Allen and Bette Midler. In addition, he was counsel to several theatrical projects, including "House of Blue Leaves," "Lorelei," "Dirtiest Show In Town," "Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," and "Women Behind Bars."

Freddie Gershon became counsel to The Robert Stigwood Group Ltd., on matters in the United States and United Kingdom in 1971. During this time, The Stigwood Group was establishing itself by the landmark "concert tours," the Broadway production as well as the film of "Jesus Christ Superstar," and the Americanization of two Stigwood-controlled literary properties from the U.K., the legendary "All In The Family" and "Sanford and Son." RSO subsequently produced a number of films for television, including "The Entertainer," with Jack Lemon, "Killer Bees" with Gloria Swanson, "Death Scream" with Raul Julia and the acclaimed series "Beacon Hill" (adapted from "Upstairs Downstairs").

As The Stigwood Group moved its focus to the United States, Freddie Gershon became more involved in financing and distribution. The first film was "Tommy," the trend-setting production prototypical of and a forerunner of MTV, which featured The Who, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Jack Nicholson, Ann-Margret and Elton John.

By 1976, Freddie Gershon's work with Stigwood had expanded and Gershon structured a reverse takeover of RSO's then publicly-traded U.K. Company. He was elected President, chief operating officer and became a partner in The Stigwood Group of Companies worldwide (the three other partners were Robert Stigwood, Siemens GmbH and Phillips, NV).

Freddie Gershon's first activity was collaborating with Stigwood to consolidate the structure of the multi-faceted company facilities in London, Amsterdam, Sydney, Los Angeles and New York. Together, they created a wholly-owned record company (RSO Records), which recorded such artists as The Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, Yvonne Elliman, and Eric Clapton, as well as such film soundtracks as "Fame," "The Empire Strikes Back," "Bugsy Malone," "Saturday Night Fever," "Grease," and "Return of the Jedi."

Freddie Gershon was also responsible for the operations of the RSO Film Division, which produced "Saturday Night Fever," co-produced "Grease," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "The Fan," and many others, including a co-production with Rupert Murdoch of "Gallipoli" starring Mel Gibson.

With the production of these films also came the pioneering concept of cross-marketing films with motion picture soundtracks. "Grease," and "Saturday Night Fever," still rank as among the largest-selling soundtracks in motion picture history (combined sales of 50,000,000 double albums).

In addition to RSO Records, Publishing, Management, Television and Motion Pictures was RSO's Theatre Division, which, in London, produced "Hair," "Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Oh! Calcutta!" "Two Gentlemen From Verona," "Pippin," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Sweeney Todd," and "Evita."

In 1982, Freddie Gershon took a sabbatical from active business, including his position as vice chairman of The Stigwood Group, to spend more time teaching, lecturing and writing. In 1983, however, he arranged the financing for "La Cage Aux Folles," and became Allan Carr's business partner in the Broadway and worldwide productions of "La Cage...The Musical." Simultaneously, he increased his involvement with Columbia Law School and its alumni activities. In addition to fundraising, has been a guest speaker on subjects relating to entertainment law, recording, publishing, the representation of artists and motion picture packaging. In addition to Columbia, he has been a guest speaker at Yale Law School, Cardozo Law School, Pepperdine Law School, New York Law School, Pace Law School, The Juilliard School (Gershon studied piano, composition and theory at Juilliard for eight years), Columbia University's School of Fine Arts, Fashion Institute of Technology and New York University Film School.

In the early '70s, he founded and conducted the Practising Law Institute's ongoing legal education seminars in Entertainment Law. As an outgrowth of his many Practising Law Seminars, Freddie Gershon helped launch a trendsetting development foundation, and a federally-accredited and funded program to help the African-American community establish economic success through music and records. Gershon also acted as an adviser to George Balanchine (involved with a then-pioneering effort to memorialize ballet choreography on videotape) and to Lincoln Kirstein as a member of the board of the School of American Ballet.

He served as vice chairman of the Development Committee for NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and has been on the advisory boards of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the Cardozo Entertainment Law Journal and served on the Board of the ArtsConnection.

Freddie Gershon is also active in Columbia University's new Center for Law, Media and the Arts, dedicated to helping individuals and corporations protect intellectual property and to educate and guide them in the commercial applications of their creative product. He is also an active member of the Tisch School of the Arts: Musical Theatre Program, as well as one of its benefactors.

"Best-selling author" was added to his credits in 1986, when his first novel, "Sweetie, Baby, Cookie, Honey," was published by Arbor House in hardcover and in paperback the following year by Ballantine. Five-hundred-thousand copies later, the novel has been translated into three languages.

Another project, "Goya...A Life In Song," a joint venture between CBS Records, Freddie Gershon and Allan Carr, was initiated to create an original musical theatre piece featuring the voice of Placido Domingo as the legendary artist, Francisco Goya. "Till I Loved You (The Love Theme from Goya)," was first heard, when Barbra Streisand and Don Johnson recorded and released a successful version of this duet. Dionne Warwick teamed with Domingo on the concept album and Maestro Domingo recorded it in Spanish ("Haste Amarte") with Gloria Estefan. "Goya...A Life In Song," is in development for a full stage production. Its score is by multi-Tony Award-winning composer/lyricist, Maury Yeston ("Grand Hotel," "Nine," "Titanic").

In the Fall of 1992, Freddie Gershon became a co-chairman and principal of SESAC, a then 62-year-old non-dramatic performing rights organization representing music publishers and songwriters licensing their musical copyrights for broadcast and non-broadcast exploitation in America with principal offices in Nashville and New York City. His partners in SESAC are Stephen Swid, Ira Smith and Allen & Co.

Earlier in 1988, Freddie Gershon became principal, chairman and CEO of Music Theatre International (MTI), one of the largest and oldest licensing companies of theatre musicals in the world. MTI represents dramatic performing rights of such classics as "West Side Story," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Meredith Willson's The Music Man," "Guys & Dolls," "Annie," "Les Mis'rables," and over 100 others. Each year MTI licenses over 60,000 performances of 15,000 separate productions in 68 countries. It expanded its facilities into the Pacific Rim serving Japan, Korea and China. Cameron Mackintosh Inc. is a partner in MTI.

In 1995, Freddie Gershon, began developing the "Broadway Junior" program through MTI. Broadway Junior works with the authors of great musicals to adapt them into full shows that run 70 minutes in length and are designed for children to perform. The first production, "Annie Junior," bowed in 1998. Gershon was motivated by his belief that young people were missing out on a great opportunity because of diversions such as electronic games, arcades, computers, cartoons, MTV and other "kid" activities. That observation, coupled with a number of authors of great musicals represented by MTI who voiced concern that a new generation of theatregoer has been lost to them because of a cultural shift, galvanized Gershon into action. He went on gut instinct - that this uniquely American form of entertainment could be translated to life-enhancing experiences for children. He sought MTI's authors' approval and involvement, and got it. American musical theatre was on its way to schools.

Today, titles in the collection offered to students and educators worldwide include "Guys & Dolls," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Into the Woods," "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" "Once on This Island," "Bugsy Malone," and "Meredith Willson's The Music Man," as well as the newest additions to the catalogue, "Godspell," "Honk!" "Dear Edwina." With 35,000 productions licensed so far, Broadway Junior has proven that children's lives can be changed and impacted permanently and positively through the dynamics of participating in a musical theatre production.

Gershon and his wife Myrna live in New York City with Sherpa the wonder dog .