Daniel Frohman (August 22, 1851 – December 26, 1940) was an American theatrical producer and manager, and an early film producer.

Biography

Frohman was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( wes ...

. His parents were Henry (1826–1899) and Barbara (Babelle) Straus (1828–1891) Frohman. In his younger days he worked as a clerk at the ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'', and while there witnessed the fatal shooting of the reporter

Albert Deane Richardson Albert Deane Richardson (October 6, 1833 – December 2, 1869) was a well-known American journalist, Union spy, and author. Among his works is his noted biography of Ulysses S. Grant. Richardson was shot on two occasions, the second time fatally, ...

by Daniel McFarland on November 25, 1869, and was a witness at McFarland's murder trial. With his brothers

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and

Gustave Frohman Gustave Frohman (c. 1854 – August 16, 1930) 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 ...

, he helped to develop a system of road companies that would tour the nation while the show also played in New York City. The three brothers worked together at the

Madison Square Theatre ''The Madison Square Theatre'' was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, on the south side of 24th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway (which intersects Fifth Avenue near that point.) It was built in 1863, operated as a theater from 1865 to 1908, ...

in the early 1880s. Daniel was the producer-manager of the

old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

and

new New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Lyceum Theatres and the Lyceum stock company from 1886 to 1909. During this period he launched careers for such actors as

E. H. Sothern Edward Hugh Sothern (December 6, 1859 – October 28, 1933) was an American actor who specialized in dashing, romantic leading roles and particularly in Shakespeare roles. Biography Sothern was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of English ...

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

William Faversham William FavershamBlum, Daniel (c. 1954). ''Great Stars of the American Stage''. "Profile No. 46". 2nd ed. (12 February 1868 – 7 April 1940) was an English stage and film actor, manager, and producer. Biography He was born in London. As a t ...

Maude Adams Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production ...

Richard Mansfield Richard Mansfield (24 May 1857 – 30 August 1907) was an English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the play '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''. Life and career Mansfield was born ...

and

James Keteltas Hackett James Keteltas Hackett (September 6, 1869 – November 8, 1926) was an American actor and Actor-manager, manager. Life James K. Hackett was the son of Clara C. and James Henry Hackett, a comedian and celebrated Falstaff. He was born on Wolf ...

. Daniel Frohman was married to Broadway actress

Margaret Illington Margaret Illington (born Maude Light; July 23, 1879 – March 11, 1934) was an American stage actress popular in the first decade of the 20th century. She later made an attempt at silent film acting by making two films with Adolph Zukor's Famo ...

from 1903 to 1909. Illington later married

Major Bowes Edward Bowes (June 14, 1874 – June 13, 1946), professionally known as Major Edward Bowes, was an American radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s whose ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' was the best-known amateur talent show on radio during its 18 ...

. Frohman became involved in the motion picture business as a partner and producer with

Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; hu, Zukor Adolf; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produ ...

in the

Famous Players Film Company 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 impresario. History Discussions to form the company were held at The Lambs, a famous th ...

. He worked from offices on West 26th Street in New York City; between 1913 and 1917 he was part of the production of more than seventy films. Frohman died at

LeRoy Sanitarium The LeRoy Sanitarium, later called the LeRoy Hospital, was a medical facility in New York, New York. It was founded in 1928 by Alice Fuller LeRoy and closed in 1980. Notable patients *actress Marguerite Clark entered as a patient and then died th ...

in New York on December 26, 1940. He was buried in the Union Field Cemetery in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, near his brother

, who had died in 1915 in the sinking of the .

Selected filmography

* ''

The Prisoner of Zenda ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in order ...

'' (1915) File:Danielfrohman1.jpg, Daniel Frohman Lyceum Theatre Co. Lithograph - 1897,

Library of Congress Collection A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

(theatrical poster for ''

The Princess and the Butterfly ''The Princess and The Butterfly: or, The Fantastics'' is a comedy in five acts by Arthur Wing Pinero first produced at London’s St. James's Theatre on March 25, 1897 and in New York at the Lyceum Theatre on November 23, 1897. The New York v ...

'') File:The Man from Mexico-1914-newspaperad.jpg, ''

The Man from Mexico ''The Man from Mexico'' is a 1914 silent film produced by the Famous Players Film Company and Daniel Frohman. It starred John Barrymore in his second feature film and was remade in 1926 as '' Let's Get Married'' starring Richard Dix. The film was ...

'', a 1914 silent film produced by the

and Daniel Frohman File:Daughter_MacGregor_Wiki.jpg, ''

The Daughter of MacGregor ''The Daughter of MacGregor'' is a 1916 American silent film produced by Famous Players Film Company and distributed by Paramount. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Valentine Grant, his wife who wrote the scenario. Cast *Valentine Grant - J ...

'', a 1916 silent film produced by Daniel Frohman for the Famous Players Film Company File:May Blossom poster.jpg, '' May Blossom'', a 1915 feature film effort by

Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, was ...

References

Sources

*Thomas Allston Brown, ''A History of the New York Stage From the First Performance in 1732 to 1901'', vol. III, (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903) *George Cooper, ''Lost Love: A True Story of Passion, Murder, and Justice in Old New York'' (New York: Random House/Pantheon, 1994) *Stanhope Searles, "Six Books of the Month: ''Charles Frohman, Manager and Man''", ''The Bookman'', vol. 44, no. 3 (November 1916) p. 306

External links

* * * * *
Daniel Frohman picture gallery in later life
Corbis Images)
Theater Arts Manuscripts:
An Inventory of the Collection at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frohman, Daniel 1851 births 1940 deaths People from Sandusky, Ohio American Jews American theatre managers and producers Film producers from Ohio Frohman family