Charles Frohman

Charles Frohman – Life, Productions & Legacy

Learn about Charles Frohman (1856–1915), one of early America’s greatest theatrical producers. Discover his rise from humble beginnings, his production empire, how he shaped Broadway and London theatre, and his tragic death aboard the Lusitania.

Introduction

Charles Frohman (born July 15, 1856 – died May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer who played a towering role in the development of Broadway and transatlantic theatre.

He produced over 700 shows, helped institutionalize the “star system,” and co-founded the powerful Theatrical Syndicate, which controlled theatrical bookings and touring in the U.S. for decades.

In his prime, he was a kingmaker: he discovered stars, nurtured them, and shaped what theatre meant to American audiences. His life ended tragically aboard the RMS Lusitania, when it was torpedoed in 1915.

Early Life & Family

• Birth and Family Origins
  Charles was born in Sandusky, Ohio, to a Jewish family (father Henry Frohman, mother Babette née Strauss). Although many later sources erroneously list his birth year as 1860 and date as July 16 (including his tombstone), most reliable accounts assert July 15, 1856.

• Relocation to New York & Early Work
  His family moved to New York City in 1864 when Charles was a child. At about age 12, he began working nights at the New York Tribune while attending day school. Later he worked for the Daily Graphic in 1874 and sold theater tickets in Brooklyn in the evenings.

• Entry into Theatre
  In the 1870s and 1880s, he began managing touring companies, such as the Chicago Comedy Company, and working with minstrel troupes. He also collaborated with his brothers, Daniel Frohman and Gustave Frohman, both significant theatrical figures in their own right.

Theatre Career & Innovations

Rise as a Producer & Theatre Owner

• His first major producing success came with Shenandoah by Bronson Howard in 1889.

• In 1892, Frohman founded the Empire Theatre Stock Company and acquired the Empire Theatre in New York.

• He then expanded, acquiring multiple theaters in New York (Garrick, Criterion, etc.) and partnering in theaters in Boston and elsewhere.

• In 1895, he produced the New York premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

The Theatrical Syndicate & Control of Touring

• In 1896, Frohman joined with Al Hayman, Abe Erlanger, Mark Klaw, Samuel F. Nixon, and Fred Zimmerman to form the Theatrical Syndicate, which exercised a near monopoly over theatrical bookings and touring in the U.S.

• Under the Syndicate system, independent producers often had to go through the Syndicate for access to top theaters.

• The Monopoly began eroding in the 1910s, particularly as the Shubert brothers challenged it and opened competing circuits.

London & International Productions

• Frohman leased the Duke of York’s Theatre in London in 1897, promoting shows both in the U.K. and U.S.

• He frequently partnered with Seymour Hicks in London to produce comedies and musicals such as Quality Street, The Admirable Crichton, The Catch of the Season, The Beauty of Bath, and A Waltz Dream.

• One of his greatest triumphs was producing James M. Barrie’s Peter Pan — premiered in London in 1904 and then in the U.S. in 1905—with Maude Adams in the lead role.

Star System & Talent Development

• Frohman was known for discovering and nurturing theatrical stars: Maude Adams, Ethel Barrymore, John Drew, Billie Burke, Julia Marlowe, and many others.

• He often took a personal interest in his actors: advising, sending them books and gifts, selecting costuming, and coaching performances.

• Frohman is sometimes credited with steering the theatrical world away from the "stock company" model (where resident companies did multiple repertory plays) toward the “star vehicle” model (plays built around a leading actor).

Scale, Reach & Influence

By 1915, Frohman’s enterprise was massive in scale:

• He had produced over 700 shows.

• He employed thousands in a typical season, including hundreds of actors.

• His theaters spanned New York, London, and many across the U.S. Some estimates list five London theaters and six in New York, plus over two hundred in the rest of the U.S. under his control or influence.

• He was instrumental in shaping the flow of plays between London and New York, exporting successful productions across the Atlantic.

Personal Challenges & Later Life

• Around 1911, Frohman suffered a fall which injured his knee. He walked with a cane thereafter.

• Despite health challenges, he maintained active involvement in his theaters, traveling often between U.S. and London.

Death on the Lusitania

• In May 1915, Frohman traveled aboard the RMS Lusitania to oversee his London operations.

• On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-20 off the coast of Ireland and sank rapidly. Frohman was aboard during the sinking.

• Despite having difficulty walking (because of his injured knee), Frohman helped tie life jackets to infants in baskets (“Moses baskets”) and stayed at deck until the end.

• His reported last words paraphrased Peter Pan: “Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure that life gives us.”

• His body was later recovered, identified, and returned to New York for funeral services. He was buried in Union Field Cemetery, Queens, New York.

• Memorial services were held in New York (Temple Emanu-El), London (St Paul’s Cathedral, St Martin-in-the-Fields), and in other U.S. cities.

Legacy & Influence

• Frohman’s stature as a theatrical impresario endures in how Broadway, touring theatres, and star-driven productions function today.

• His influence on transatlantic theatre (London ↔ New York) helped make that exchange routine.

• The monopoly he built via the Theatrical Syndicate eventually faltered, but it showed how much power producers could wield over theatrical business structures.

• In popular culture, Frohman has been portrayed in films and stage works—for example in Finding Neverland (portrayed by Dustin Hoffman), and in the Broadway musical adaptation starring Kelsey Grammer.

• He remains a symbol of the theater’s “golden age,” a bridge between the Victorian/Edwardian theatrical traditions and modern commercial theatre.