Stephen Blauner

Stephen "Boom Boom" Blauner (September 19, 1933) was Bobby Darin's manager and very close friend, producer, and member of BBS productions.

Early life

Steve was born to Eugene and Marion. They settled in New York where Steve was born. Steve was born on 81st across from the planetarium. When he was in kindergarten, the family moved to White Plains, 45 minutes from Broadway. He had a childhood friend, Bert Schneider, and the two were inseparable. They are still today, very good friends. Bert’s father was treasurer of Columbia Pictures. Blauner loved Al Jolson from the start. When he was 13, he saw the Jolson story 18 times. It turned him on to show business.

Steve and Sammy Davis

While Steve was serving his time in the military, he went to the Copacabana where Sammy Davis Jr. was performing. Steve had idolized Sammy and he went up to Sammy during a break and said “The way you feel about Frank Sinatra is the way I feel about you”. The two began to talk and from then on Steve and Sammy where best of friends. After Steve’s time in the military was up, he and Sammy would see each other often. Steve was wowed two times in his life. One was Sammy and the other was Bobby Darin. Steve was at Sammy’s deathbed along with Sammy’s very close-personal friends.

Steve and Bobby

Steve had just entered the business and was an agent at GAC, at that time the third largest agency in the world. The first time Rock N’ Roll. He met with Harriet Wasser and took Bobby under his wing, but Steve never managed and had just started in the business, but everything he knew, he was willing to teach Darin. He signed Darin with GAC, not caring that he might screw up his life. He got Darin his first gig in Connecticut and Steve was wowed. Sometime in 1958, Steve got transferred to California and Bobby was there too. Steve was sharing a house with a guy who worked for Sammy Davis and Bobby would sleep on the couch. The two where driving on Sunset Blvd. when Bobby said, “I want you to manage me”. Steve almost crashed the car. He said no because it’s not ethical, him being in the agency, and also because he said “Bobby, you’re going to be a big star and I don’t know enough, I’ve only been in the business for a minute and a half”. He had turned him down. Later, after he quit GAC, he asked Bobby if he still wanted him to be his manager. Bobby said “yes” and from then on Steve was Bobby’s official manager until 1965. Steve once again reminded Bobby that he was not a professional and the only other management he did was with Dick Haymes. That was for a very short period until Dick began to drink again, which was early in the management. Bobby still said yes. Steve refers to his management period with Bobby as a “comet ride”. One day Bobby went to Antlantic Records and said that he wanted to do an album of standards. They wouldn't let him at first because he was a rock and roll singer. Bobby finally managed to make the album. It including the famous track, "Mack the Knife".

Steve and BBS

Bert Schneider became vice president and treasurer of Screen Gems. Around the time Bobby had received his Academy-Award nomination for his character in Captain Newman M.D, Steve felt that he had done everything he could for Bobby as a manager. He thought it was time for something else. They split, but they never had a fight, and still were very good friends. Steve convinced Screen Gems to hire Jackie Cooper as head of the studio. Steve at that time was also responsible of “Bewitched”, “I Dream of Jeanie”, “The Farmer’s Daughter”, and “Hazel”. Most of the short films were ignored by Hollywood. One day Bert and Bob walked up to Steve and said “We want to do A Hard Day’s Night as a T.V. show”. Steve’s immediate answer was “Go”. They showed “The Monkees in NBC studios and as Steve recalled, the incident went like this: “Right after we showed the pilot, the director of NBC, Mort Warner, stood up and said “I don’t know what the hell we’ve just seen but I think we should put it on the air”. Steve formed BBS and during that time, they made Easy Rider, Academy-Award winner for best documentary Hearts and Minds, The Monkees series, Five Easy Pieces, The Last Picture Show, King of Marvin’s Gardens, Safe Place, and many more. When Easy Rider first came out, in a theature in California, Steve was there. He had noticed that the line went from the theature to the end of the block. Steve immediatly started giving tickets to the audience and when the manager of the theature came, he was very impressed. The manager said he had never seen anyone who came to his theature, helped out, and helped make the movie. Later on the manager let Steve in for free when he saw The Exorcist.

Current Life

Steve now lives in California and enjoys the company of his daughters, Moon and Grace. Pictures of his friends and Bobby are on the walls of his home. When you walk in Steve’s home you will truly find the meaning of the saying “every picture tells a story”.

Legacy

During Steve’s time, he worked with everybody. From Bobby to Sammy, Bert to Bob, The Monkees to Richard Pryor. The list includes Nat Cole, George Burns, Frankie Laine, Johnny Ray, Guy Mitchell, Jack Nicholson, Peggy Lee, Pat Boone, Dennis Hopper, Dick Haymes, Perry Como, Tony Lema, and the countless cast and crews of his films. Steve’s legacy is so big that it set the record for music and changed the course of how we make films. Steve continues to represent the Bobby Darin estate.