The Longacre, named for Longacre Square (now Times Square), was built by producer/manager H.H. Frazee (also known as the owner of the Boston Red Sox who sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees). After Frazee fell into financial difficulties, the theater changed hands many times before being sold to Astor Theatre Incorporated, a Shubert subsidiary, in 1919. WOR leased it from 1943-1953 as a radio and television playhouse.