Daniel Talbot Dies: Influential Exhibitor For Lincoln Plaza Cinemas Was In 90s

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Daniel Talbot, the co-founder of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and a giant in the field of specialized exhibition and distribution, has died. He was in his 90s and had been in declining health.

His death was confirmed by Ewneto Admassu, the longtime manager of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.

The Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, a temple of the art house movie scene in New York for more than 30 years, is at the end of its lease and is scheduled to close in January. News of the closing earlier this month resonated far beyond the independent film community, given the longtime pedigree of the the six-screen Upper West Side multiplex. The lived-in site, in the basement of a residential building on Broadway, has been an influential launch pad for a long list of notable indies, documentaries and foreign-language films, from Fahrenheit 9/11 to Boyhood to Certified Copy.

Talbot, along with his wife of 68 years, Toby, were longtime fixtures on the festival circuit and served as important tastemakers. “We acted as kind of first readers,” Toby Talbot told Deadline earlier this month. “If a film opened at Lincoln Plaza, it had to be worthwhile.”

Prior to the Lincoln Plaza, the Talbots had operated two previous art houses as well as indie distributor New Yorker Films, which handled titles from Jean-Luc Godard, Bernardo Bertolucci, Chantal Akerman and many more.

The Lincoln Plaza long operated under a joint venture involving the Talbots, France’s Gaumont banner and building owner Milstein Properties. After word of the lease ending emerged, a Milstein spokesperson said the company plans to reopen the theater after renovating portions of the property.

A memorial is scheduled for Sunday, December 31 at 9:30 am at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 180 W. 76th Street in New York City.

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