Margie Korshak, the grand dame of Chicago’s public relations industry for five decades, has died at 86.
Broadway in Chicago, the theatrical production company that presents live stage shows at five major downtown theaters, and which, for years, has been represented by Ms. Korshak and her eponymous public relations firm, announced the news of her passing on Sunday.
The announcement paid tribute to Ms. Korshak, calling her “a trailblazer for women, Chicago and Broadway” who left behind a “legacy of courage, tenacity and unwavering support for the theater” that “will endure for generations.”
Ms. Korshak founded Margie Korshak Inc. in 1969, telling CBS in a 2014 interview that it was Chicago’s Bill Wirtz who planted the idea in her head after she told him she found her life as a young housewife “boring.” “He looked at me and said, ‘Margie, you have the greatest gift of gab. I think you’d be great in P.R.,’ ” Korshak revealed. Her company soon set up shop in an East Ontario Street locale, and later in a suite of tony offices at the John Hancock Building.
Her public relations firm — which once numbered more than 50 associates — would become one of the most powerful in Chicago and beyond, representing theatrical productions, restaurants, hotels and celebrities.
Under the auspices of Broadway in Chicago, clients would come to include the pre-Broadway world premieres, regional or Chicago premieres of stage musicals such as “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Kinky Boots,” “Spamalot,” “Spongebob The Musical,” “Hamilton,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Wicked,” “Disney’s The Lion King,” “Les Miserables,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “The Book of Mormon” and many, many more.
Her Rolodex boasted a who’s who of Hollywood legends and pop culture darlings, whether as close friends, clients, or both, including Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Lena Horne, Liberace, Richard Burton, Liza Minnelli, Sonny and Cher, Henry Fonda and Rob Lowe, among hundreds more.
“I’ve met ’em all. I’m a very happy lady. I’ve been at it so long, when the stars come here, they know they’re not going to miss. I’m not some kid press agent they’re going to throw around,” Ms. Korshak told the Sun-Times in a 1999 interview.
The daughter of the late Democratic politico and former Illinois state Sen. Marshall Korshak, Ms. Korshak was married five times, including to Chicago attorney Michael Chernoff, and most recently to philanthropist Charles “Corky” Goodman, the former vice chairman of the private investment firm Henry Crown & Co. Goodman preceded her in death in 2023.
Ms. Korshak is survived by her two children, Steven Chernoff and Susan Korshak Chernoff.