Ben-Hur (1959 film) New York City on November 18, 1959. Present at the premiere were William Wyler, Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Martha Scott, Ramon Novarro (who played Judah Ben-Hur in the 1925 silent film version), Spyros Skouras (president of the 20th Century Fox), Barney Balaban (president of Paramount Pictures), Jack L. Warner (president of Warner Bros.), Leonard Goldenson (president of the American Broadcasting Company), Moss Hart (playwright), Robert Kintner (an ABC Television executive), Sidney Kingsley (playwright), and Adolph Zukor (founder of Paramount Pictures). During its initial release the film earned $33.6 million in North American theater rentals (the distributor's share of
Ramon Novarro Novarro's murder is also briefly referenced in the sixth season "The Sopranos" episode "Cold Stones", following the violent murder of a closeted homosexual character. In late 2005, the Wings Theatre in New York City staged the world premiere of "Through a Naked Lens" by George Barthel. The play combined fact and fiction to depict Ramon Novarro's rise to fame and his relationship with Hollywood journalist Herbert Howe. In 2015, the murder of Ramon Novarro was covered in the television series "Aquarius" in the episode "Cease to Resist". Novarro's relationship with Herbert Howe is discussed in two biographies: Allan R. Ellenberger's