His parents, Israel Balaban and Augusta (born Mendeburskey) emigrated from Dubasari, Bessarabia in the early twentieth century. A. .J Balaban's most productive period of achievement was from 1909 to 1929. It was a measure of his success and respect that in 1929, the February 27 issue of Variety was dedicated to him, and the following August a massive Citizens' Dinner in Chicago was organized to bid him farewell upon his move to New York to assume a creative position with Paramount/ Publix, with which B&K had merged in 1926. The artistic and managerial genius of the Balaban & Katz team (brother Barney wasknown for his financial and real estate acu- men, while Katz was a lawyer), A. J. Balaban - from his earliest years as a young man singing in small theatres to illustrated glass slides, to the mastery of"presentations" that featured singers, dancers, and musicians in a variety of turns culminating into la- vish tableaux- had as an overarching inspiration the comfort and satisfaction of the au- dience. Among Balaban's many show-business innovations were large theatres seating thousands of people in grand architectural palacesthat resembled "fairy lands"; the in- tegration of movies and stage shows, alternating throughout the day; the presentation on movie-theatre stages of many of the giants of American show business, including The Four Marx Bros., Sophie Tucker, Gladys Swarthout, Ginger Rogers, organist Jesse Crawford, and the orchestras of Paul Whiteman and John Philip Sousa.