In 2024, Jerry Digney celebrates 25 years as President and Managing Partner of two of the nation’s most successful independent PR firms. At Solters/Roskin/Friedman, Jerry worked with legendary “press agent” Lee Solters. Later, he and Lee partnered in Solters & Digney to continue their role as an A-list publicist for A-list clients.
Jerry Digney has always been a promoter. He learned his skills from many ballyhoo icons and legendary press agents. Knowing how to get attention for his clients comes naturally.
Digney, a native Bostonian, was the first Director of Public Relations for Feld Entertainment, producer-owner of Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey Circus, and Disney on Ice touring productions. He supervised a staff of marketers and publicists there for a half-dozen or more touring productions.
Digney later worked with Larry Harmon Pictures, owner of the Bozo the Clown franchise. It was Digney’s idea to enter Bozo in the 1984 presidential race. The Bozo for President campaign resulted in coverage by every major media outlet in America.
Leaving Harmon’s company shortly after his success with the campaign, Jerry joined one of the industry’s leading public relations firms. As vice president of Solters/Roskin/Friedman, he quickly became right hand to Lee Solters, a legend among international entertainment publicists. They were image-makers and confidants to virtual showbiz Who’s Who from Broadway to Hollywood.
In the ’90s, Jerry partnered with Lee Solters to form Solters & Digney. He worked with the elder statesman of public relations until he died in 2009.
Jerry Digney has long been at the forefront of many memorable chapters in entertainment history, from publicizing two presidential inaugurals and numerous breakthrough films, including “The Graduate,” to promoting major touring shows like Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey Circus and long-running installations like Cirque du Soleil, The Beatles.
Celebrity clients have included Michael Jackson, BB King, Ray Charles, The Neville Bros, The Rolling Stones, Jackie Gleason, Whoopi Goldberg, Carol Channing, Whitney Houston, Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton and Bette Midler. Venues and events, including Caesars Palace, the Beverly Hills Hotel, Mattel, Universal Studios Tour, 20th Century Fox film studios, the City of Las Vegas, and the many legendary Chrysler-sponsored Golf Tournaments and Bob Hope television specials have all relied on Jerry Digney for direction and exposure.
He was the first to get a female client over 50 on the cover of Playboy magazine and arranged for the Pope (John Paul II) to be made an honorary Harlem Globetrotter.
Digney lobbied for the first showbiz-themed U.S. postage stamp featuring Laurel and Hardy, the beginning of an ongoing campaign to feature entertainment icons on postage stamps.
Today, the number of media outlets (and opportunities for coverage) has expanded exponentially. For client TCL Chinese Theatre, Digney & Co. has produced over 1 billion impressions via social media alone. New clients—superstars to be—are emerging from the Internet.
All they need is a little ballyhoo.
