The Outsiders Who Built Irish Entertainment (Paperback)

This book tells the story of the birth of modern entertainment in Ireland through two generations of a remarkable immigrant family who helped shape it — from the birth of cinema through to the end of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Maurice Elliman arrived in Dublin in 1892 as a penniless refugee from Tsarist Russia. He started out by projecting magic lantern shows in travelling fairgrounds. By the time he died some fifty years later;he was hailed as a pioneer of cinema and ‘the father of the Dublin film trade’ (Dublin Evening Mail).

His son;Louis Elliman;would become Ireland’s ‘Mr. Show Business’ (The Irish Independent);early 20th century Ireland’s greatest impresario. Expanding the business his father had begun;Louis turned it into a national entertainment empire;comprising over 30 cinemas and major Dublin theatres;among them the celebrated Royal and the Gaiety. He brought to Ireland leading lights from the worlds of theatre;opera;dance and music worldwide;giving Irish audiences entertainment equal to any on New York’s Broadway or London’s West End. When World War II closed the seaways to international stars;Louis nurtured homegrown talent;many of whom later shone on global stages.

Interwoven with this story of the evolution of Ireland’s entertainment industry is the intimate saga of an immigrant family finding its feet;along with a rare glimpse into Hollywood at its mightiest — its ruthless studio heads and glittering stars — captured in Louis’s journal of his lavish;high-profile Tinsel Town visit in 1950.