Paul Jordan, 91; booking agent, show-business entrepreneur

In the full swing of the post-World War II nightclub era, there were few variety acts on Boston stages that hadn't worked with booking agent Paul Jordan.

The savvy show-business entrepreneur was known to have pull where it counted and a fierce loyalty to the artists he represented.

"He could get you booked," said longtime friend Doris Kotzan of Greenwich, Conn., a burlesque dancer who performed as Bambi. "If you wanted to go into certain clubs . . . he booked it. He went all out for his entertainers. He protected them, and nobody messed with Paul's acts."

Mr. Jordan, a retired agent and owner of the former Paul Jordan Theatrical Agency, died June 8 at Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Vt., following a stroke. He was 91.

Born Albert P. Lantz in Somerville, Mr. Jordan was raised by vaudeville dancers: his mother, Mary Marchetti and stepfather, Nicholas "Fluff Jordan" Taddeo. Mr. Jordan inherited his stepfather's booking agency in 1937 and by the time the war ended, he had established a name for himself.

Kotzan said she first met Mr. Jordan in the 1950s, when she began dancing in Boston. He started by securing jobs for her in theaters and clubs in Scollay Square before taking on venues throughout the Northeast, traveling with her and other performers from New York City to northern Maine.

"He knew where to place the acts," Kotzan said. "They say if you wanted someone who could sew sequins in the dressing room, he could do that. If you wanted someone who could mix in the bar, he could do that. You never knew where you'd be, but you knew you'd be safe and protected and well paid."

Using relationships he had with agents in larger cities, Mr. Jordan often helped performers who wanted to be seen as far away as Las Vegas.

When national acts acts such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Will Maston stopped in Boston to perform, many hired Mr. Jordan, Kotzan said.

"Paul Jordan practically ruled Boston," she said.

Soft-spoken and impeccably dressed, Mr. Jordan was known to clients as a gentleman who didn't drink, curse, or smoke, said former burlesque performer "Satan's Angel" C. Walker of Phoenix. If anyone came to him short on cash or in need of rent, he would help them out, she said.

Walker said she remembers more than one occasion when Mr. Jordan, despite his small stature, would physically remove intruders who wandered backstage to see the dancers. "He was like a father I never had," Walker said. "He just always took care of everybody."

As time passed and many of his early clients retired or moved on, Mr. Jordan continued to book acts locally.

After Mr. Jordan sold his agency and retired in 1990, he donated a career's worth of memorabilia -- including business correspondence, business records, contracts, and his clients' publicity photographs -- to the Harvard Theatre Collection, said curator Fredric Woodbridge Wilson.

His wife -- Rose Marie Sudarich, who retired from show business when the two married in 1950 -- died in the early 1990s, friends said.

In his retirement, Mr. Jordan, who according to Kotzan loved animals and secretly had always wanted to be a veterinarian, spent his days betting on and watching his "silkies" at New England horse racing facilities.

When Kotzan, whose daughter Grace "Bambi Jr." Morley was also a client of Mr. Jordan's, visited him recently at the Copley Manor Nursing Home, she told her former agent about her new gig, traveling to give talks about the glitter and glamour of the burlesque era, she said he looked at her and said, "I could book you."

"And I know he could, because he was a go-getter," she said. "The man was just unbelievable, just incredible." She added that he had helped her when she wanted to start an agency of her own in Las Vegas.

"We lost a great, one of the last, believe me," Walker said. "I don't know if there's anyone left. You can tell he led a good, charmed life, because he lasted the longest. He was truly one of the little icons of the era."

A private service has been held.