B.F. Keith
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Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26, 1846 – March 26, 1914) was an American
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
theater owner, who played an important role in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville.


Biography


Early years

Keith was born in Hillsboro Bridge,
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. He joined the circus (as a "candy butcher") after attending Van Amburgh Circus's and then worked at Bunnell's Museum in New York City in the early 1860s. He later joined
P.T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He w ...
and then joined the Doris and Forepaugh Circus.


Gaiety Museum

In 1883, Keith and William Austin (later of the Austin and Stone's Dime Museum) opened a curiosity museum in a vacant storefront on Washington Street in
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 ...
. The establishment went by a number of names, including the Hub Museum, New York Museum, Gaiety Hall, and the Gaiety Museum. Its first attraction was an undersized 3 month old child known as "Baby Alice". After two weeks, Austin left the partnership and was replaced by Dan Gardner. Later that year, Keith expanded the museum to include a 123 seat theater. The theater hosted a variety of events, but vaudeville was the most popular and eventually replaced the museum. The theatre was one of the early adopters of the continuous variety show which ran from 10:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night, every day. Previously, shows ran at fixed intervals with several hours of downtime between shows. With the continuous show, you could enter the theatre at any time, and stay until you reached the point in the show where you arrived. In 1883, Keith hired E. F. Albee as an assistant. Albee later became Keith's general manager and business partner. In 1884, George G. Batcheller replaced Gardner and the museum was expanded once again.


Vaudeville

In 1886, Keith and Batcheller obtained a lease on Boston's Bijou Theatre. The following year, Keith took sole proprietorship of the theater and began running a continuous show. He quickly expanded his theater business, acquiring the Providence Museum in 1887 (
Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
), Low's Opera House (Providence) in 1888, the Bijou (
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
) in 1888, and Union Square Theatre (
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) in 1893. In 1894, he opened Keith's Theatre in Boston. In 1900, he purchased the Princess Theatre in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. In 1906, Keith merged his New York and New Jersey theatres with Frederick Freeman Proctor, but dissolved the partnership five years later. On February 11, 1907, Keith and Proctor formed the United Booking Office of America with New York theater owners Percy G. Williams and Oscar Hammerstein. The two sides maintained ownership of their respective theaters and agreed not to compete with each other. In 1909, Keith, Proctor, Williams, and Hammerstein formed the United Theatres Securities Co. with fellow theater owners Harry Davis of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, Michael Shea of
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, P. B. Chase of
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, James H. Moore of
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, and James C. Duffield and James Dyment of
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. This gave the United Booking Office control over 100 theaters. In 1911, the United Booking Office reached and agreement with
Martin Beck Martin Beck is a fictional Swedish police detective and the main character in a series of ten novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, collectively titled ''The Story of a Crime''. Frequently referred to as the Martin Beck stories, all were ada ...
, which gave the United Booking Office control of vaudeville theaters in the east and Beck's
Orpheum Circuit The Orpheum Circuit was a chain of vaudeville and movie theaters. It was founded in 1886, and operated through 1927 when it was merged into the Keith-Albee-Orpheum corporation, ultimately becoming part of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) corporatio ...
control of the west. In 1912, Keith purchased Williams's eight
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
theaters (Bronx, Greenpoint, Gotham, Crescent, Bushwick, Colonial, Orpheum, and
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).


Moving pictures

Albee and Keith operated the Union Square Theatre in New York City, and it was the site of the first American exhibition of the Lumière Cinématographe. They had obtained the exclusive American rights to the Lumière apparatus and their film output, and the first showing was on June 29, 1896. They then opened theatres in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and
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 then smaller theatres in the East and Midwest of the United States, buying out rival smaller chains. They signed a contract with
Biograph Studios Biograph Studios was an early film studio and laboratory complex, built in 1912 by the Biograph Company at 807 East 175th Street, in The Bronx, New York City, New York, which was preceded by two locations in Manhattan. History 841 Broadway ...
in 1896 which lasted until July 1905 when they switched to
Edison Studios Edison Studios was an American film production organization, owned by companies controlled by inventor and entrepreneur, Thomas Edison. The studio made close to 1,200 films, as part of the Edison Manufacturing Company (1894–1911) and then Tho ...
as their supplier of
motion pictures A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
.


Later life

Keith withdrew from business in 1909 and married for a second time on October 29, 1913, to Ethel Bird Chase (1887–1971). She was 26 years old and Keith was 67. Her father was P. B. Chase, owner of Chase's Theater in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
Keith died at the
Breakers Hotel The Breakers Palm Beach is a historic, Renaissance Revival style luxury hotel with 534 rooms. It is located at 1 South County Road in Palm Beach, Florida. During the 1895–96 winter season, business tycoon Henry Flagler opened the first Br ...
in
Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...
in 1914. After his son, A. Paul Keith, died in 1918, control of the company went to Albee.


Legacy

In 1928, the B. F. Keith Circuit merged with the
Orpheum Circuit The Orpheum Circuit was a chain of vaudeville and movie theaters. It was founded in 1886, and operated through 1927 when it was merged into the Keith-Albee-Orpheum corporation, ultimately becoming part of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) corporatio ...
to form the
Keith-Albee-Orpheum The Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation was the owner of a chain of vaudeville and motion picture theatres. It was formed by the merger of the holdings of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II and Martin Beck (vaudeville), Martin Beck's ...
(KAO) corporation in
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. In a few months, this organization became the major motion picture studio
Radio-Keith-Orpheum RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith- ...
(RKO). Also in 1928 the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre opened in Boston. Keith Academy and Keith Hall in
Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...
were named for his family in 1926. His son, A. Paul Keith died without an heir and left the family money to Cardinal William O'Connell.


References


Further reading

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External links


Benjamin Franklin Keith
at
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Benjamin Franklin 1846 births 1914 deaths People from Hillsborough, New Hampshire Vaudeville producers Film exhibitors