Samuel S. Shubert (August 27, 1878 – May 13, 1905) was an American producer and theatre owner/operator. He was the middle son in the

Shubert family The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th c ...

and was raised in Syracuse, New York.

Biography

Born in Vladislavov, in the

Suwałki Governorate Suwałki Governorate (russian: Сувалкская губерния, pl, gubernia suwalska, lt, Suvalkų gubernija) was a governorate (administrative area) of Congress Poland ("Russian Poland") which had its seat in the city of Suwałki. It cove ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It ...

, a part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

(present-day

Kudirkos Naumiestis Kudirkos Naumiestis () is in the Šakiai district municipality, Lithuania. It is located south-west of Šakiai. History The settlement was first mentioned in 1561 as a village called ''Duoliebaičiai.'' In 1639 the town was renamed ''Vladisl ...

, Lithuania) to a

Lithuanian-Jewish Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent areas ...

family, he was the second son and fifth child of Duvvid Schubart and Katrina Helwitz. He was four years old when the family emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 1881. They settled in Syracuse, New York, where a number of

Jew 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""T ...

ish families from there already were living. His father's

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

kept the family in difficult financial circumstances, and at a very young age Sam Shubert had to work as a shoeshine boy.

Syracuse operations

He eventually obtained a job at the Grand Opera House, selling programs and working in the box office. Although he had only rudimentary education, Sam Shubert had a quick mind for mathematics, which resulted in his promotion to assistant treasurer. After accepting the position of treasurer at the '' Wieting Theatre'', the largest in the city of Syracuse, Shubert soon developed an interest in the production of plays. With borrowed money, he embarked on a venture that led him and his

two brothers Two Brothers may refer to: Films * ''Two Brothers'' (1929 film), a 1929 German silent film, directed by Mikhail Dubson * ''Two Brothers'' (2004 film), a 2004 French-British film, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud * ''The Two Brothers'' (film), a ...

to be the successful operators of several theaters in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long ...

Theatre empire

The Shubert brothers decided to expand to the huge market in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and at the end of March 1900, Sam Shubert leased the

Herald Square Theatre The Herald Square Theatre was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, New York City, built in 1883 and closed in 1914. The site is now a highrise designed by H. Craig Severance. History The Park Theatre opened in 1883 (also known as the New Park Thea ...

at the corner of

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 ...

and 35th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. Leaving younger brother

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam ...

at home to manage their existing theatres, he and older brother

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

moved to New York City, where they laid the foundation for what was to become the largest theatre empire in the 20th century. Sam Shubert had the idea for his first original production, ''Fantana'', which premiered at the ''Lyric Theatre'' on January 14, 1905. "The show was Sam's idea, and he more or less cowrote the libretto. When his coauthor, Robert B. Smith, claimed to have done all the actual writing, Sam admitted that he had but would not change the credits." He also took the directing credit for the 1904 revival of the comedy opera ''

Wang Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname * Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname * Titles in Chinese nobility * A title in Korean nobility * A title in Mongolian nobility Places * Wang River in Thai ...

'': "under the personal direction of Sam. S. Shubert."

Railroad accident

In May 1905, Sam Shubert was traveling to

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

on business, when the passenger train he was on collided with several freight cars in the Lochiel neighborhood of south

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

. Severely injured in the

train wreck A train wreck, train collision, train accident or train crash is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track; or an acc ...

, Sam Shubert succumbed to his injuries two days later at the age of 26. His body was brought back to New York for burial in the

Salem Fields Cemetery Salem Fields Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery located at 775 Jamaica Avenue in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, United States, within the Cemetery Belt. It was founded in 1852 by Temple Emanu-el. Salem Fields is the final ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

. In 1913, Sam Shubert's brothers opened a prestigious new theatre at 225 West 44th Street, in the heart of the

Broadway Theater District New York City's Theater District (sometimes spelled Theatre District, and officially zoned as the "Theater Subdistrict") is an area and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan where most Broadway theaters are located, as well as many other theaters, ...

, which was named in his honor. The Sam S. Shubert Theatre remains in operation today as one of the great landmarks of Broadway. In 1945,

The Shubert Organization The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters ...

purchased the

Majestic Theatre Majestic Theatre or Majestic Theater may refer to: Australia * Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, former name of a theatre in King William Street, Adelaide, built 1916, now demolished *Majestic Theatre, Launceston, a former cinema in Tasmania designed b ...

, at 22 West Monroe Street in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, and it too was renamed the Sam S. Shubert Theatre."Bank of America Theatre history
cinematreasures.org, retrieved December 30, 2009

Notes

*Hirsch, Foster. ''The Boys From Syracuse'' (1998), SIU Press.

References

External links

* * ''Shubert Foundation biography'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shubert, Sam S. 1878 births 1905 deaths People from Kudirkos Naumiestis Lithuanian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American theatre managers and producers American entertainment industry businesspeople Jewish American writers Businesspeople from Syracuse, New York Shubert Organization Railway accident deaths in the United States Accidental deaths in Pennsylvania Burials at Salem Fields Cemetery 19th-century American businesspeople