David Robert Nounou passed away peacefully in his sleep on Saturday, April 27, 2024 after a brief illness. David, the youngest son of Salim and Violette Nounou, was born in Tehran, Iran but spent most of his life in New York City and, as a child and young adult, lived on the Upper West Side. He attended boarding school in Brighton, England; Hackley in Tarrytown, NY; and Columbia Grammar in Manhattan. He attended Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY and graduated with a BA in Theater. He was a member of the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in Manhattan and remained a devout and proud member of the Jewish faith long after he left the synagogue.
David had a brief stint as a chorus dancer, working with Phyllis Diller on Broadway in “Hello, Dolly!” He also performed in regional theater and summer stock, and starred as Professor Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady’ in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. He decided acting and dancing was not for him and worked numerous jobs. He worked as a teller for East River Savings Bank in Manhattan as well as AAA and American Express and traveled all over the world on cruise ships in the early 1970s. He worked for numerous Manhattan interior design firms as a bookkeeper as well for a business run by his father, Salim, and brother Ernie. His last job was as a bookkeeper for a real estate securities firm in New York City.
David often said his finest days were when he retired early in 2009. Along with his partner and future spouse Scott Harrah, he started the theater review website StageZine.com in 2010 .
David was a bona fide theater and film aficionado and kept a large collection of Playbills of every Broadway show he had seen since he was a child. At the time, Scott was writing theater reviews for several local Manhattan weeklies as well as Show Business Weekly. David helped Scott—who has a Master of Arts degree in journalism from New York University—transfer his skills in writing reviews to the digital world. Together, David and Scott turned StageZine.com into a successful theater website, covering theater in both New York City and London, UK. With Scott’s help, both David and Scott started writing Broadway reviews together. David had a vast knowledge of all things related to theater, old Hollywood movies, and Academy Awards as well as beauty pageants like Miss America, Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Venezuela. David was still writing Broadway reviews up until two days before his death.
David met Scott Andrew Harrah on August 2, 2003 and never left Scott’s side for nearly 21 years. David and Scott were officially married in a Jewish ceremony officiated by Rabbi Linda Portnoy Goldberg in Central Park in NYC on May 26, 2017. This was the happiest day of David and Scott’s life together. Shortly after they married, David and Scott made Rego Park, Queens their permanent home. David and Scott traveled all over Europe during their time together as well as each winter to either Acapulco or Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Their favorite trip was to Israel in June 2018. Some of David’s family once lived in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv and David always had a special place in his heart for the Jewish state.
David is survived by his spouse, Scott Andrew Harrah Nounou; his brother Ernest Nounou and sister-in-law Christine Nounou in New York City; his niece Rebecca Nounou Fabbri and her husband Pietro in Los Angeles, California; his niece Nicole Nounou Weiss, her husband David Weiss and grand niece Emily in South Florida; his cousin Rachel Moser of New York City; and cousins Ruth Saleh and Michael Rahahmim in London, UK; and his father-in-law Dan Harrah and sister-in-law Carol Harrah in Lincoln, Nebraska; brother-in-law and sister-in-law Tim and Janet Harrah in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky; nieces Jennifer Harrah and Amanda Harrah in Ft. Thomas and Caitlin Harrah in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Partager l'avis de décès
v.1.9.6