Variety big dead at 85

Syd Silverman, 85, longtime owner and publisher of the entertainment trade publication Variety, died Sunday in Boca Raton, Fla.

Silverman was the grandson of the storied newspaper’s founder, Sime Silverman, and was its publisher from 1957 to 1987, when he sold it to Cahners Publishing.

He is survived by his wife, four children and eight grandchildren.