The Frohman brothers were American theatre owners, including on Broadway, and theatrical producers who also owned and operated motion picture production companies.
The brothers were:
Born to a Jewish family from Sandusky, Ohio, [1] the Frohman brothers developed a system of touring theatrical companies that would perform in various parts of the United States. They eventually made their way to New York City in the 1880s where they set up offices that managed bookings for a chain of Western theaters whose operations extended through to California.
Charles Frohman became the representative partner in the Theatrical Syndicate which created a monopoly in 1896 that controlled almost every aspect of theatre contracts and bookings for the next twenty years.
Daniel Frohman led the brothers business interests into a 1912 partnership with filmmaker Adolph Zukor named the Famous Players Film Company. The new film production company made its first film in 1913, The Prisoner of Zenda and the Frohmans remained involved until 1918 when they parted ways with Zukor after having been part of seventy-four Famous Players productions.
In 1915 the brothers created Frohman Amusement Corp to be used primarily as a vehicle to make motion pictures from theatrical plays on which they held the rights.[ citation needed ] A few months after the film company was set up, Charles Frohman died in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. Brothers Gustave and Daniel assumed control of the theatre operations plus the management of the film production company.
Between its startup in 1915 and 1917, all of the company's films were directed by George Irving.[ citation needed ]
Until its dissolution in 1920, their film company produced twenty-one motion pictures. William L. Sherrill was a partner is the company. [2] They made more than two dozen two-reel Western films with Texas Guinan in 1918 including The Boss of the Rancho and The Heart of Texas . [3]
Gustave and Daniel Frohman continued producing theatrical plays until the early part of the 1930s. They also managed their theatres until Daniel, the last surviving brother, died in 1940.
Gladys Louise Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian actress resident in the United States, and also producer, screenwriter, and film studio founder. She was a pioneer in the American film industry, with a Hollywood career that spanned five decades.
Adolph Zukor was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures. He produced one of America's first feature-length films, The Prisoner of Zenda, in 1913.
Charles Frohman was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Frohman produced over 700 shows, and among his biggest hits was Peter Pan, both in London and the US.
Edward Brewster Sheldon was an American dramatist. His plays include Salvation Nell (1908) and Romance (1913), which was made into a motion picture with Greta Garbo.
Daniel Frohman was an American theatrical producer and manager, and an early film producer.
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Marc Klaw, was an American lawyer, theatrical producer, theater owner, and a leading figure of the Theatrical Syndicate.
The Famous Players Film Company was a film company founded in 1912 by Adolph Zukor in partnership with the Frohman brothers, powerful New York City theatre owners and producers.
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The Famous Players–Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company – originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays – and the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company.
Marie Doro was an American stage and film actress of the early silent film era.
Gustave Frohman was a theatre producer and advance man. He was one of three Frohman brothers who entered show business and he worked for most of his career alongside his brother, Charles Frohman. These two financed a number of theatre productions, often featuring African American actors. For instance, in 1878, they starred Sam Lucas in the first serious stage production of Uncle Tom's Cabin with a black man in the lead role.
Eugene O'Brien was an American silent film star and stage actor.
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Henrietta Foster Crosman was an American stage and film actress.
The Lyceum Theatre was a theatre in New York City located on Fourth Avenue between 23rd and 24th Streets in Manhattan. It was built in 1885 and operated until 1902, when it was torn down to make way for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower. It was replaced by a new Lyceum Theatre on 45th Street. For all but its first two seasons, the theatre was home to Daniel Frohman's Lyceum Theatre Stock Company, which presented many important plays and actors of the day.
Klaw and Erlanger was an entertainment management and production partnership of Marc Klaw and Abraham Lincoln Erlanger based in New York City from 1888 through 1919. While running their own considerable and multi-faceted theatrical businesses on Broadway, they were key figures in the Theatrical Syndicate, the lucrative booking monopoly for first-class legitimate theaters nationwide.
Jane Grey was an American stage and screen actress of the silent era.
William L. Sherill was a producer in the early film industry of the United States. He served as president of the Frohman Amusement Company. A 1918 issue of Theatre Magazine reported he was the single most important figure among independent producers of motion pictures.