Gladys Marie Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the American film industry, she co-founded Pickford–Fairbanks Studios and United Artists, and was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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 theatre manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced Peter Pan, both in London and the US, the latter production starring Maude Adams who would be strongly identified with the part.
Daniel Frohman was an American theatrical producer and manager, and an early film producer.
Lewis J. Selznick was an American producer in the early years of the film industry. After initial involvement with World Film at Fort Lee, New Jersey, he established Selznick Pictures in California.
Marcus Loew was an American business magnate and a pioneer of the motion picture industry who formed Loew's Theatres and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio (MGM).
The Theatrical Syndicate was an organization that controlled most booking in top theatrical attractions in the United States, starting in 1896. The organization, composed of six men, controlled theatres and bookings.
Marc Klaw, was an American lawyer, theatrical producer, theatre 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 impresarios. Discussions to form the company were held at The Lambs, a famous theater club where Charles and Daniel Frohman were members. The company advertised "Famous Players in Famous Plays" and its first release was the French film Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth (1912) starring Sarah Bernhardt and Lou Tellegen. Its first actual production was The Count of Monte Cristo, directed by Edwin S. Porter and starring James O'Neill, the father of dramatist Eugene O'Neill.
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on July 19, 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.
Teresa Maxwell-Conover was an American actress in Broadway productions in the early 20th century. She was in motion pictures until the early 1940s. She was from Louisville, Kentucky.
The Eternal City is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Hugh Ford and Edwin S. Porter, produced by Adolph Zukor. The movie stars Pauline Frederick in her debut film role, The production is based upon the 1901 novel and 1902 Broadway play of the same name by Hall Caine that starred Viola Allen and Frederic De Belleville. Much of The Eternal City was shot on location in England and Italy before being interrupted by the start of the Great War. The film was released through the specially created Select Film Booking Agency for the Famous Players Film Company.
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 most of its existence, 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.
Daphne Glenne (1886–1972), born Dorothy Cornelius, was an English leading actress in musical theatre and silent film in the period around 1910–1920.
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.
