Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Frohman produced over 700 shows, and among his biggest hits was ''
Peter Pan'', both in London and the US.
In 1896, Frohman co-founded the
Theatrical Syndicate, a nationwide chain of theaters that dominated the American touring company business for more than two decades until the
Shubert brothers grew strong enough to end its virtual monopoly. He partnered with English producers, including
Seymour Hicks, with whom he produced a string of London hits prior to 1910, such as ''
Quality Street'', ''
The Admirable Crichton
''The Admirable Crichton'' is a comic stage play written in 1902 by J. M. Barrie.
Origins
Barrie took the title from the sobriquet of a fellow Scotland, Scot, the polymath James Crichton, a 16th-century genius and athlete. The epigram-loving E ...
'', ''
The Catch of the Season'', ''
The Beauty of Bath'', and ''
A Waltz Dream''.
At the height of his fame, Frohman died in the 1915
sinking of the RMS ''Lusitania'' by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland.
Life and career
Charles Frohman was born to a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family in
Sandusky, Ohio, the youngest of three
Frohman brothers, including
Daniel and
Gustave. The year of his birth date is generally erroneously reported as 1860, and his birthday is shown as July 16 on his tombstone, but the correct date is July 15, 1856. In 1864, Frohman's family moved to New York City. At the age of twelve, Frohman started to work at night in the office of the ''
New York Tribune
The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...
'', attending school by day. In 1874, he began work for the ''Daily Graphic'' and at night sold tickets at
Hooley's Theatre,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. In 1877, he took charge of the Chicago Comedy Co., with
John Dillon as star in ''Our Boys''. He next joined
Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels as manager, touring the U.S. and Europe. Then for a time he was associated with his brothers Daniel and Gustave in managing the
Madison Square Theatre, New York. He began to produce plays by 1886.
[Kenrick, John]
"Who's Who in Musicals: Additional Bios XI"
Musicals101.com, 2004, accessed May 17, 2010

Frohman's first success as a producer was with
Bronson Howard's play ''
Shenandoah'' (1889). Frohman founded the Empire Theatre Stock Company to acquire his first Broadway theatre, the
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
, in 1892. The following year, he produced his first
Broadway play,
Clyde Fitch's ''Masked Ball''. In this piece,
Maude Adams first played opposite
John Drew, which led to many future successes. Soon Frohman acquired five other New York City theaters, including the
Garrick and Criterion Theatres. Working with
William Harris and Isaac B. Rich, he became part owner of their theatres in Boston (the
Columbia Theatre,
Park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
,
Hollis Street,
Colonial,
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and
Tremont). In 1895, he produced the New York premiere of ''
The Importance of Being Earnest
''The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1893) and ''An Ideal Husban ...
'', by
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
. The same year, he produced ''
The Shop Girl
''The Shop Girl'' was an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts (described by the author as a musical farce) written by Henry J. W. Dam, with lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ro ...
''.
[
Frohman was known for his ability to develop talent. His stars included William Gillette, John Drew, Jr., ]Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...
, Billie Burke, E. H. Sothern, Julia Marlowe, Maude Adams, Paul Gilmore, Evelyn Millard, Henry Miller and Walter E. Perkins. In 1896, Frohman, Al Hayman, Abe Erlanger, Mark Klaw, Samuel F. Nixon, and Fred Zimmerman formed the Theatrical Syndicate. Their organization established systemized booking networks throughout the United States and created a monopoly that controlled every aspect of contracts and bookings until the late 1910s, when the Shubert brothers broke their stranglehold on the industry.
In 1897, Frohman leased the Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by ...
in London, introducing plays there as well as in the United States. Clyde Fitch, J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...
and Edmond Rostand were among the playwrights he promoted. As a producer, among Frohman's most famous successes was Barrie's '' Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'', which he premiered at the Duke of York's in December 1904 starring Nina Boucicault, and produced in January 1905 in the U.S. starring Maude Adams. In the early years of the 20th century, Frohman also established a successful partnership with English actor-producer Seymour Hicks to produce musicals and other comedies in London, including '' Quality Street'' in 1902, ''The Admirable Crichton
''The Admirable Crichton'' is a comic stage play written in 1902 by J. M. Barrie.
Origins
Barrie took the title from the sobriquet of a fellow Scotland, Scot, the polymath James Crichton, a 16th-century genius and athlete. The epigram-loving E ...
'' in 1903, '' The Catch of the Season'' in 1904, '' The Beauty of Bath'' in 1906, '' The Gay Gordons'' in 1907, and '' A Waltz Dream'' in 1908, among others. He also partnered with other London theatre managers. The system of exchange of successful plays between London and New York was effected largely as a result of his efforts. In 1910, Frohman attempted a repertory scheme of producing plays at the Duke of York's. He advertised a bill of plays by J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...
, John Galsworthy, Harley Granville Barker, and others. The venture began tentatively, and while it might have proved successful, Frohman canceled the scheme when London theatres closed at the death of King Edward VII in May 1910.
Other Frohman hits included '' The Dollar Princess'' (1909), '' The Arcadians'' (1910), '' The Sunshine Girl'' (1913) and '' The Girl From Utah'' (1914).[ By 1915, Frohman had produced more than 700 shows, employed an average of 10,000 people per season, 700 of them actors, and paid salaries totaling $35 million a year (the equivalent of more than $700 million in 2010 dollars). Frohman controlled five theaters in London, six in New York City, and over two hundred throughout the rest of the United States. His longtime live-in companion, theatre critic Charles Dillingham, also became a well-known producer.][
]
Death on the RMS ''Lusitania''
Frohman made his annual trip to Europe in May 1915 to oversee his London and Paris "play markets", sailing on the Cunard Line's RMS ''Lusitania''. Songwriter Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...
was meant to accompany him on the voyage but overslept after being kept up late playing requests at a party. William Gillette was also to have accompanied him, but was forced to fulfill a contracted appearance in Philadelphia.
Frohman's rheumatic knee, from a fall three years earlier, had been ailing for most of the voyage, but he was feeling better on the morning of May 7, a bright, sunny day. He entertained guests in his suite and later at his table. He was regaling them with tales of his life in the theater when, at 2:10 in the afternoon, within fourteen miles of the Old Head of Kinsale, with the coast of Ireland in sight, a torpedo from the German U-boat
U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...
''U-20'' struck the ''Lusitania'' on the starboard side. Within a minute, there was a second explosion, followed by several smaller ones.
As passengers began to panic, Frohman stood on the promenade deck, chatting with friends and smoking a cigar. He calmly remarked, "This is going to be a close call." Frohman, with a disabled leg and walking with a cane, could not have jumped from the deck into a lifeboat, so he was trapped. Instead, he and millionaire Alfred Vanderbilt tied lifejackets to "Moses baskets" containing infants who had been asleep in the nursery when the torpedo struck. Frohman then went out onto the deck, where he was joined by actress Rita Jolivet, her brother-in-law George Vernon and Captain Alick Scott. In the final moments, they clasped hands, and Frohman paraphrased his greatest hit, '' Peter Pan'': "Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure that life gives us." Jolivet, the only survivor of Frohman's party, was standing with Frohman as the ship sank. She later said, "with a tremendous roar a great wave swept along the deck. We were all divided in a moment, and I have not seen any of those brave men alive since."
At his death, Frohman was 58. His body later washed ashore below the Old Head of Kinsale, and lay among 147 others awaiting identification, where a rescued American identified him from newspaper photographs. His body, alone among all the others, was not disfigured. It was determined that he was killed by a heavy object falling on him, rather than by drowning. His funeral service was held on May 25 at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, and he was buried in the Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens, New York. Services were also arranged by some of his stars in other American cities: by Maude Adams in Los Angeles, by John Drew in San Francisco, by Billie Burke in Tacoma, and by Donald Brian, Joseph Cawthorn and Julia Sanderson in Providence, as well as memorial services at both St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
and the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...
in London. Frohman was also eulogized by the French Academy of Authors in Paris.
A memorial to Frohman is located on The Causeway at Marlow on Thames. The memorial, by the artist Leonard Stanford Merrifield, features a drinking fountain with a sculptured nymph
A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...
and inscription.
Portrayals in films, television and stage
Frohman was portrayed by Edwin Maxwell in ''The Great Ziegfeld
''The Great Ziegfeld'' is a 1936 American musical film, musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Lui ...
'' (1936) and by Harry Hayden in the film ''Till the Clouds Roll By
''Till the Clouds Roll By'' is a 1946 American Technicolor musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a fictionalized biopic of composer Jerome Kern, portrayed by Robert Walker (actor, born 1918), Robert Walker. Kern was involved with the ...
'' (1946). He was played by William Hootkins in the BBC mini-series '' The Lost Boys'' in 1978. He was portrayed by Nehemiah Persoff in '' Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women'' also in 1978 on television. In the 1980 film '' Somewhere in Time'', the character William Fawcett Robinson, played by Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...
, was based on Frohman.[Bradley, Matthew R]
"Richard Matheson – Storyteller: Signs o' the Time"
Tor.com, December 21, 2010, accessed January 14, 2015 In 2004, Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...
portrayed him in the film '' Finding Neverland'', while Kelsey Grammer
Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...
played him in the musical of the same name on Broadway in 2015.
Notes
References
*Denison, Chuck, and Duncan Schiedt. ''The Great American Songbook''. Bandon, Oregon, Robert D. Reed Publishers, 2004. .
*
*McLean, Lorraine Arnal. ''Dorothy Donnelly''. Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarlan, 1999. .
*Preston, Diana. ''Lusitania, An Epic Tragedy'' (Walker & Company, 2002).
*Skinner, Otis. ''Footlights and Spotlights'' (Blue Ribbon Books, 1924).
* Zecher, Henry. ''William Gillette, America's Sherlock Holmes'' (Xlibris Corporation, 2011).
Further reading
*Anderson, John. ''The American Theatre'' (The Dial Press, 1938).
*Atkinson, Brooks. ''Broadway'' (The MacMillan Company, 1970).
*Bailey, Thomas A. & Paul B. Ryan. ''The Lusitania Disaster'' (The Free Press, 1975).
*Binns, Archie. ''Mrs. Fiske and the American Theatre'' (Crown Publishers, Inc., 1955).
*Bordman, Gerald. ''The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre'' (Oxford University Press, 1984).
*Burke, Billie. ''With a Feather on My Nose'' (Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1949).
*Churchill, Allen. ''The Great White Way'' (E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1962).
*Frohman, Daniel. ''Daniel Frohman Presents, An Autobiography'' (Claude Kendall & Willoughby Sharp, 1935).
*Frohman, Daniel. ''Encore'' (Lee Furman, Inc., 1937).
*Hughes, Glenn. ''A History of the American Theatre 1700-1950'' (Samuel French, 1951).
*Marker, Lise-Lone. ''David Belasco: Naturalism in the American Theatre'' (Princeton University Press, 1974).
*Morehouse, Ward. ''Matinee Tomorrow, Fifty Years of Our Theater'' (Whittlesey House, 1949).
*Robbins, Phyllis. ''The Young Maude Adams'' (Marshall Johns Company, 1959).
*Stagg, Jerry. ''The Brothers Shubert'' (Random House, 1968).
*Timberlake, Craig. ''The Bishop of Broadway'' (Library Publishers, 1954).
External links
*
*
Biography of Frohman at The Lusitania Resource
Profile of Frohman
* ttp://www.talkinbroadway.com/bway101/3b.html Includes an anecdote about Frohman's last words and deeds on the Lusitania
Frohman and Edna May
Site dedicated to Charles Frohman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frohman, Charles
1856 births
1915 deaths
People from Sandusky, Ohio
19th-century American Jews
American theatre managers and producers
Blackface minstrel managers and producers
Deaths on the RMS Lusitania
Frohman family
20th-century American Jews
Jews from Ohio
Jewish theatre directors
Burials at Union Field Cemetery