Charles Frohman

Charles Frohman, around 1915

Charles Frohman (born June 17, 1860 in Sandusky , Erie County , Ohio , † May 7, 1915 in the Atlantic Ocean off Ireland ) was an American theater director and producer .

Origin and career

Charles Frohman was born in Sandusky, Ohio, the sixth of seven children to a Jewish couple. He was the brother of Daniel (1851-1940), Gustave (1854-1930), Caryl, Emma, ​​Etta and Rachel. When Charles was 14, the Frohmans moved to New York City and Charles took a job as a newspaper deliverer at New York Graphic . He later moved to the New York Tribune , where his brother Daniel also worked. A year later he joined the management of the newspaper. He developed a taste for the theater and worked his way up to being a producer and owner of his own theater. In 1880 he secured the rights to the play Shenandoah , the first step to worldwide fame.

Theater impresario

Charles Frohman presents Miss Maude Adams in The Little Minister by James M. Barrie

The Outcast (1917)

Frohman went public, founded the Charles Frohman Stock Company in 1890 and the Empire Theater Stock Company two years later . Both paid off and paved his way to prosperity and privileges. In 1893 he produced his first Broadway performance, Clyde Fitch's Masked Ball, featuring Frohman's new discovery, Maude Adams . Over the course of his career, Frohman discovered dozens of new acting talents on both sides of the Atlantic, including John Drew , Edna May Oliver , Ethel Barrymore , Marie Tempest , Amelia Herbert , Rita Jolivet and many others. He also worked with Henry Miller , William Gillette and Julia Marlowe . He personally looked after the welfare of his protégés, giving away books, chocolates, flowers and other gifts in abundance. He also selected many costumes and props himself to make sure that the pieces were 100% what he wanted.

In 1896 Frohman and his colleagues Al Hayman , Abraham L. Erlanger , Marc Klaw , Samuel F. Nixon and Fred Zimmerman founded the Theatrical Syndicate , an organization that was to monopolize the contracting system in the American theater world. One of his most successful pieces was James M. Barries Peter Pan in 1905, again with Maude Adams. Above all, Frohman had a penchant for comedies and cheerful plays, which was a rarity in times of large-scale dramas. He disliked the many "bloody, over-dramatized plays" that were ruling America at the time. When the competition from the Shubert Brothers became noticeable, Frohman turned to the European market and founded a theater in London in 1910, where he discovered stars like George du Maurier and came into contact with the opera actress Josephine Brandell . By 1915, Frohman had produced over 700 shows and employed over 700 actors per season. Every autumn he visited his theater in London to put on new performances and to find new talent.

Frohman was very careful to keep his personal life private and rarely showed up in public. There were almost no details about the famous New Yorker. He often advised his actors to do the same. Rumor had it that he had secretly married Maude Adams, but this was never confirmed by either Adams or Frohman himself. The only thing known about him was his love of sweets.

accident

In 1912, Frohman, who was suffering from arthritis as he grew older , fell down a flight of stairs in his home in White Plains , New York and had to walk on the stick he sarcastically called "my wife". He had great pain in his joints and found it difficult to move on his own. Despite good medical treatment, his condition did not improve.

death

Unusually in the spring of 1915, Frohman made his annual trip to England to see Gaby Deslys in James Barries Rosy Rapture: The Pride of the Beauty Chorus at the Duke of York Theater in London. He booked a first class passage on the luxury liner Lusitania for himself and his servant William Stainton , which left New York on May 1 and was scheduled to arrive in Liverpool on May 8 . Frohman was accompanied by a large group of friends from the New York drama scene, such as Justus Forman , Charles Klein and Rita Jolivet . Frohman's friend Josephine Brandell was also on board, as were the actresses Millie Baker and Amelia Herbert, who were under his management. Frohman occupied the luxury suite B-75 (ticket # 46052), which had its own bathroom. William Stainton was housed in B-61.

The increasingly aggressive submarine war and Germany's many warnings not to travel on a British ship had left their mark on many and many friends had practically begged Frohman not to go to England with the Lusitania . John Drew telegraphed to Frohman shortly before departure: "I will never forgive you if you are blown up by a submarine." Another asked him, "Aren't you afraid of the submarines?" Frohman replied : "No, the only thing I'm afraid of are promissory notes."

On board, he spent most of the time in his cabin, working continuously on current and new productions. On May 4th he called the ship's doctor because of severe pain in his leg. Two days later, he was giving a private party in his suite that was attended by many famous people. When the Lusitania passed the Irish coast on May 7, she was attacked by the German U- 20 submarine and sunk. Frohman was on deck with some of his entourage. He tried to calm down the actress Rita Jolivet and gave her tips on how to hold on to the railing (“As if he was just giving me ordinary stage directions,” she later testified). He left his life jacket to a woman and lit a cigar. The group stayed together until the water closed over the ship and tore them apart.

The handicapped Frohman did not survive the downfall. His last words testified to his theatrical character: To die would be an awfully big adventure. ("To die would be a tremendously great adventure." - Quote from Peter Pan .) His body was identified as # 24, transferred to America and buried in Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood , New Jersey . June 16 is incorrectly stated as the date of birth on his tombstone.

literature

• Isaac F. Marcosson, Daniel Frohman: Charles Frohman: Manager and Man. New York, London: Harper & Bros. 1916

Web links

• Marcosson's biography at gutenberg.org
• Charles Frohman in the Internet Broadway Database (English)