It is with sadness ATPAM announces the death on June 14 of Press Agent Joel W. Dein in New York. Brother Dein was 72 years old and had been a member of ATPAM since 1982.
Born in Brooklyn in 1945, Joel grew up in Kew Garden Hills. He attended Jamaica High School and studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse. After serving in the Army from 1965 to 1968, he returned to New York where he worked as a casting director and finally set his sights on Press Agentry.
Among the Broadway productions Joel represented were: Defending the Caveman, The Will Rogers Follies, Shimada, Strindberg’s The Dance of Death, Bring Back Birdie, Lunch Hour, The Waltz of the Stork, Rock ‘n Roll–the First 5000 Years and Merlin, as well as the National tour of Into the Woods. Off-Broadway he represented Bunny, Bunny, Eating Raoul and Nixon’s Nixon, a riff on Nixon’s final days in the White House.
In 1997 Joel joined the Big Apple Circus as Director of Communications. He worked there for 18 years, overseeing the expansion of the circus’ identity and brand name. He was responsible for bringing the Big Apple Circus to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and NYC’s Columbus Day Parade, He also developed promotional relationships for the circus with Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdales, Toys ‘R Us and others.
Brother Dein is survived by Sandy, his wife of over 36 years, step-children Sean and Jessica and also by his sibling Francine and her family.
He will be missed.
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