Former Maryland chief movie censor and theater owner passes

posted by CSWalczak on December 4, 2009 at 7:40 am

BALTIMORE, MD — During her life spanning over ninety years, Rosalyn Shecter co-owned with her husband a number of Baltimore area theaters, including the still-operating Charles, the former Roxy, and the demolished Roslyn, named in her honor. In the 1960s, she had the power to order cuts made to films before they could be exhibited in the Old Line State; she later softened her stance and supported the film rating system.

Born Rosalyn Margareten in New York City, she was granddaughter of the woman who founded the Horowitz-Margareten matzo and kosher foods business. She attended Hunter College and later studied sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

She met her future husband, Baltimore advertising executive Lois E. Shecter, in Miami Beach. They married in 1939.

Her husband bought several Baltimore theaters during this period, including the Charles, then called The Times because it showed newsreels on a continuous basis. She joined him in the operation of his other theaters – the Rex in Govans, the Roxy in East Baltimore and one he named for her, the Rosalyn, on Howard Street. It was torn down for an expansion of Maryland General Hospital many years ago.

Read more in the Baltimore Sun.

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