Jujamcyn Chairman James Binger Dies at 88

He took over the theater chain in the late 1970s after the death of its previous owner: his father-in-law, William L. McKnight. In the early 1980s, Binger expanded Jujamcyn’s holdings by buying the Ritz (now the Walter Kerr), the ANTA (now the Virginia, named after Binger’s wife, who died in 2002), and eventually the Eugene O’Neill. Jujamcyn also owns the St. James, where The Producers is playing, and the Al Hirschfeld, which houses the revival of Wonderful Town.

Binger graduated with an economics degree from Yale and a law degree from the University of Minnesota. Binger was both the president and chief executive of Honeywell Inc., and was at one time part of a group of businessmen who owned the Minnesota Vikings. He also served on the board of the McKnight Foundation, formed by his wife’s parents, and he was a lifetime member of the Guthrie Theater board in his home town of Minneapolis.

He is survived by a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.