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. Notably, he produced ''
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
'', both in London and the US, the latter production starring
Maude Adams who would be strongly identified with the part.
In 1896, Frohman co-founded the
Theatrical Syndicate, a nationwide chain of theaters that dominated the American touring company business, 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 Scot, the polymath James Crichton, a 16th-century genius and athlete. The epigram-loving Ernest is p ...
'', ''
The Catch of the Season'', ''
The Beauty of Bath'', and ''
A Waltz Dream
' (''A Waltz Dream'') is an operetta by Oscar Straus with a German libretto by and , based on the novella ' (''Nux, the Prince Consort'') by Hans Müller-Einigen from his 1905 book ' (''Book of Adventures'').
The young Jacobson presented Stra ...
''. Frohman produced over 700 shows.
At the height of his fame, Frohman died in the 1915 sinking of the
RMS ''Lusitania''.
Life and career
Charles Frohman was born to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
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'', attending school by day. In 1874, he began work for the ''Daily Graphic'' and at night sold tickets at
Hooley's Theatre,
Brooklyn. 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
Bronson Crocker Howard (October 7, 1842 – August 4, 1908) was an American dramatist.
Biography
Howard was born in Detroit where his father Charles Howard was Mayor in 1849. He prepared for college at New Haven, Conn., but instead of ent ...
's play ''
Shenandoah'' (1889). Frohman founded the Empire Theatre Stock Company to acquire his first Broadway theatre, the
Empire, in 1892. The following year, he produced his first
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
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 Garrick may refer to:
* Garrick (name), for the name's origin and people with either the surname or given name, the most famous being:
** David Garrick (1717–1779), English actor
* Garrick Club, a London gentlemen's club named in honour of David ...
and Criterion Theatres. Working with
William Harris and Isaac B. Rich, he became part owner of their theatres in Boston (the
Columbia Theatre,
Park,
Hollis Street,
Colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
,
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and
Tremont). In 1895, he produced the New York premiere of ''
The Importance of Being Earnest'', by
Oscar Wilde. The same year, he produced ''
The Shop Girl''.
[
Frohman was known for his ability to develop talent. His stars included ]William Gillette
William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...
, John Drew, Jr.
John Drew Jr. (November 13, 1853 – July 9, 1927), commonly known as John Drew during his life, was an American stage actor noted for his roles in Shakespearean comedy, society drama, and light comedies. He was the eldest son of John Drew ...
, Ethel Barrymore, Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...
, E. H. Sothern
Edward Hugh Sothern (December 6, 1859 – October 28, 1933) was an American actor who specialized in dashing, romantic leading roles and particularly in Shakespeare roles.
Biography
Sothern was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of English ...
, Julia Marlowe, Maude Adams, Paul Gilmore, Evelyn Millard
Evelyn Mary Millard (18 September 1869 – 9 March 1941) was an English Shakespearean actress, actor-manager and "stage beauty" of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries perhaps best known for creating the role of Cecily Cardew in the ...
, Henry Miller and Walter E. Perkins. In 1896, Frohman, Al Hayman
Al Hayman, also known as Raphael Hayman, (1847 – February 10, 1917) was the business partner of the better-known Charles Frohman who together with others established the Theatrical Syndicate. In addition to the financial backing, ownership an ...
, 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 th ...
in London, introducing plays there as well as in the United States. Clyde Fitch
Clyde Fitch (May 2, 1865 – September 4, 1909) was an American dramatist, the most popular writer for the Broadway stage of his time (c. 1890–1909).
Biography
Born in Elmira, New York, and educated at Holderness School and Amherst College (c ...
, 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 succ ...
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 Scot, the polymath James Crichton, a 16th-century genius and athlete. The epigram-loving Ernest is p ...
'' in 1903, '' The Catch of the Season'' in 1904, '' The Beauty of Bath'' in 1906, '' The Gay Gordons'' in 1907, and ''A Waltz Dream
' (''A Waltz Dream'') is an operetta by Oscar Straus with a German libretto by and , based on the novella ' (''Nux, the Prince Consort'') by Hans Müller-Einigen from his 1905 book ' (''Book of Adventures'').
The young Jacobson presented Stra ...
'' 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 succ ...
, John Galsworthy, Harley Granville Barker
Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directi ...
, 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
''The Dollar Princess'' is a musical in three acts by A. M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum (after a comedy by Gatti-Trotha), adapted into English by Basil Hood (from the 1907 '' Die Dollarprinzessin''), with music by Leo Fall and lyrics by Adrian ...
'' (1909), '' The Arcadians'' (1910), ''The Sunshine Girl
''The Sunshine Girl'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a book by Paul A. Rubens and Cecil Raleigh, lyrics and music by Rubens and additional lyrics by Arthur Wimperis. The story involves a working girl who falls in love with ...
'' (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
Charles Bancroft Dillingham (May 30, 1868 – August 30, 1934) was an American theatre manager and producer of over 200 Broadway shows.
Biography
Charles Bancroft Dillingham was born on May 30, 1868 in Hartford, Connecticut to Edmund Bancroft D ...
, 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 was meant to accompany him on the voyage, but overslept after being kept up late playing requests at a party. William Gillette
William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...
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
The Old Head of Kinsale () is a headland near Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland.
A castle has been on the headland since at least the 3rd century, with the current iteration built in 1223. An early lighthouse was established here in the 17th centur ...
, with the coast of Ireland in sight, a torpedo from the German U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
''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
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
'': "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 the Temple Emanu-El in New York City, and he was buried in the Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens
Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick and East Williamsburg. Historically, the neighborhood st ...
, 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
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...
in Tacoma, and by Donald Brian, Joseph Cawthorn
Joseph Bridger Cawthorn (March 29, 1868 – January 21, 1949) was an American stage and film comic actor.
Biography
Born on March 29, 1868, in New York City to a minstrel-show family, Cawthorn started out in show business as a child, debu ...
and Julia Sanderson in Providence, as well as memorial services at both St Paul's Cathedral 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. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
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
Leonard Stanford Merrifield (1880 – 25 April 1943) was a British sculptor, notable for the public monuments he created in Cornwall and in Northern Ireland.
Biography
Merrifield was born at Wyck Rissington in Gloucestershire and initially trai ...
, features a drinking fountain with a sculptured nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label= Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...
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 drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Luise Rainer as Anna Held, and ...
'' (1936) and by Harry Hayden
Harry may refer to:
TV shows
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
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. A fictionalized biopic of composer Jerome Kern, portrayed by Robert Walker, Kern was originally involved with the production, but died before ...
'' (1946). He was played by William Hootkins
William Michael "Hoot"Austin Mutti-MewseObituary: William Hootkins ''The Guardian'', November 14, 2005, accessed December 13, 2012. Hootkins (July 5, 1948 – October 23, 2005) was an American actor, best known for supporting roles in Hollywood b ...
in the BBC mini-series ''The Lost Boys
''The Lost Boys'' is a 1987 American supernatural black comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Harvey Bernhard with a screenplay written by Jeffrey Boam, Janice Fischer and James Jeremias, from a story by Fischer and Jerem ...
'' in 1978. He was portrayed by Nehemiah Persoff
Nehemiah Persoff (August 2, 1919 – April 5, 2022) was an American character actor and painter. He appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and theatre productions and also performed as a voice artist in a career spanning 55 years, be ...
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. He received multiple accolades, inc ...
, 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 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 notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...
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 Lusitaniabr>Frohman and Edna May
Site dedicated to Charles Frohman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frohman, Charles
1860 births
1915 deaths
People from Sandusky, Ohio
American Jews
American theatre managers and producers
Blackface minstrel managers and producers
Deaths on the RMS Lusitania
Frohman family
19th-century American businesspeople