Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman (
July 16,
1860 -
May 7,
1915) was an
American theatrical producer.
One of three
Frohman brothers, he was born in
Sandusky, Ohio, the brother of
Daniel and
Gustave Frohman. His birth date is frequently recorded as June 17th but his tombstone shows July 16. He left home as a boy and went to
New York City where he eventually worked successively for a
newspaper. He developed a love of the theatre that led to him becoming a booking agent and then worked his way up to producer and a theatre owner/operator. He founded the Empire Theatre Stock Company in 1892 and the following year produced his first
Broadway play
Clyde Fitch's Masked Ball which would also be the first time that
actress Maude Adams played opposite
John Drew which led to many future successes.
In 1896, Charles 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.
As a producer, among Frohman's most famous successes was
James M. Barrie's Peter Pan with
Maude Adams.
Frohman died in the 1915 sinking of the
RMS Lusitania by the
German submarine,
Unterseeboot 20. His body was recovered and brought back to the United States for burial in the Union Field Cemetery in
Ridgewood, New York.
*
Isaac Frederick Marcosson with
Daniel Frohman,
Charles Frohman, Manager and Man, (1917)
