Erasmus Hall High School
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Erasmus Hall High School is a high school in the New York City school system. It primarily serves the 10th to 12th grades. It is located on the east side of Flatbush Avenue slightly south of Church Avenue in the community of Flatbush. It was named for Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus.
Description and history
The current school consists of four buildings built between 1903 and 1940 in the Collegiate Gothic style, and designed by C.B.J. Snyder, New York City's school architect. The four buildings from a quadrangle around a campus green. In the center of that green is the original building of the Erasmus Hall Academy, the original school building, erected in 1786 as a wood structure in the Georgian/Federal style.
The academy's founders included Alexander Hamilton and former United States vice-president Aaron Burr, who later killed Hamilton in a famous duel in Jersey City, New Jersey. Other founders included John Jay and Governor George Clinton.
Famous Alumni
Erasmus has had a number of famous and accomplished alumni, some of the better known including (class year):
- Joseph R. Barbera, (1928); Artist; Cartoonist; Creator of "Tom & Jerry" cartoons.
- Artie Butler, (1960); Composer, Arranger, Producer.
- Jeff Chandler (Ira Grossel), (1935); Actor
- Betty Comden, (1933); Actress; Playwright; Broadway musical songwriting team of Comden & Greene.
- Bill Cunningham, (1960); Player and coach, Philadelphia '76ers basketball team.
- Jon Cypher, (1949); Actor; Chief of Police Daniel on Hill Street Blues.
- Al Davis; Oakland Raiders owner, Pro Football Hall of Fame member
- Neil Diamond, Attended Erasmus as a Freshman and Sophomore from 1954-1956. Singer/songwriter.
- Bobby Fischer, dropped out in 1960; Chess champion.
- James Florio, (1964); Past Governor of New Jersey.
- John Forsythe, (????), Actor.
- Earl G. Graves (1952); Publisher, Black Enterprise magazine.
- Susan Hayward (Ellen Marrenner), Attended Erasmus in the mid 30's. Hollywood actress.
- Eleanor Holm, (1932); went on to become a world famous swimmer
- Moe Howard (Moses Hurwitz), (1915), of The Three Stooges.
- Waite Hoyt; Baseball Hall of Fame member and long time announcer
- Marty Ingels, (1956); Comedian.
- Ned Irish; Member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
- Lainie Kazan (nee Levine), (1956); Film and TV actress and singer.
- Dorothy Kilgallen, (1932); Journalist and TV celebrity.
- Bernard Koppel, (1953); Actor, Doctor on TV series The Love Boat.
- Samuel LeFrak, (1936); Real estate developer.
- Sid Luckman, (1935); National football champion with the Chicago Bears.
- Dr. Barbara McClintock, (1919); Nobel Prize winner, plant biology, 1986.
- Bernard Malamud, (1932); Author and educator; Pulitzer Prize for The Fixer, 1967, Magic Barrel, 1958.
- Kedar William Massenburg, (1981); CEO/President of Motown Records.
- Stephanie Mills, (1977); Actress; Singer.
- Donald Most, (1970); Actor, TV series, Happy Days.
- Don K. Reed, (1960): Noted DJ, hosted the DOO-WOP Show.
- Jerry Reinsdorf, (1953); Owner of the Chicago Bulls, and Chicago White Sox teams.
- Lewis Rolland, MD, (1942); World expert on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, known as Lou Gehrig's Disease).
- Arthur M. Sackler, MD (1931); Art Historian and collector; Collection of African and Ancient Art is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Sackler Wing of the Smithsonian Museum.
- Beverly Sills, (Belle Silverman) Opera Singer, attended Erasmus in the late '50s and transferred before graduating.
- Robert Silverberg, (1952); prolific novelist.
- Mickey Spillane (Morrison Spillane), (1936); Author of Detective and mystery fiction.
- Barbara Stanwyck, (????) ; Actress.
- Barbra Streisand, (1959); Actress, singer, director, producer.
- Norma Talmadge, (????), Silent Screen star.
- Cheryl Toussaint, (1970); Athlete; Olympic gold medalist, 1972.
- Eli Wallach, (1932); Actor.
- James D-Train Williams, (1980); Singer/Songwriter