David Belasco

• Born July 25th, 1853 (San Fransico) and died May 14th, 1931 (New York)
• He left home and joined the circus
• At 12 he was an actor in SF and had started writing
• Amercian theatrical producer and playwright
• First producer who attracted people to the theatre
• He chose unknown actors
• His sets has sensational realism, lavish settings and he experimented with lighting
• His props were realistic and he was known for his elaborate effects

The reference to Belasco in The Great Gatsby is that Gatsby is putting on a ‘show’. Owl-Eye expected the books in the library to be fake and just for show, so he was surprised to find that they were real because the library seemed grand and theoretical and just for show so this books should have been for ‘show’ as well. When Owl-Eye tried to open Gatsby’s books, they were uncut – which meant that the pages were folded and hadn’t been cut so he hadn’t even read them. So like Belasco, the books were a prop.