(''no relation of the film director

Fred Zinnemann Alfred Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) was an American film director and producer. He won four Academy Awards for directing and producing films in various genres, including thriller film, thrillers, western (genre), westerns, film ...

'') John Frederick Zimmerman Jr. (27 August 1871 – 12 December 1948) was an American theater manager and stage producer.

Life

John Frederick Zimmerman was born on 27 August 1871, son of J. Fred Zimmerman Sr. (1843–1925) and Emma A Wetherell. His father was a

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based theater magnate, known for his role in the

Theatrical Syndicate Starting in 1896, the Theatrical Syndicate was an organization in the United States that controlled the majority of bookings in the country's leading theatrical attractions. The six-man group was in charge of theatres and bookings. The Syndicate's ...

. J. Fred Jr. became manager of the Chestnut Street Theater in Philadelphia, and later managed vaudeville theaters and cinemas. Zimmerman married the actress Ethel Jackson in 1902 at St. James Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. On August 3, 1908 Jackson obtained an interlocutory decree for a divorce without a co-respondent being named. According to the stipulation of the final divorce decree, issued in October 1908, Jackson was permitted to remarry but Zimmerman could not legally remarry while his former wife was still living. In October 1910 it was disclosed that Zimmerman was married again and had been for some time. His wife was Grace Rankin, a member of the ''Miss Innocence'' company of

Anna Held Helene Anna Held (19 March 1872 – 12 August 1918) was a Polish-born French stage performer of Jewish origin on Broadway. While appearing in London, she was spotted by impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, who brought her to America as his common-law ...

. In 1919

John Golden John Lionel Golden (June 27, 1874 – June 17, 1955) was an American actor, songwriter, author, and theatrical producer. As a songwriter, he is best-known as lyricist for " Poor Butterfly" (1916). He produced many Broadway shows and four film ...

arranged a meeting with his fellow producers Fred Zimmerman,

Archibald Selwyn Archibald Selwyn (also Arch or Archie Selwyn; November 3, 1877 – June 21, 1959) was a Canadian-American play broker, theater owner and stage producer who had many Broadway successes. He and his brother Edgar Selwyn were partners. They were amon ...

, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.,

Winchell Smith Winchell Smith (5 April 1871 – 10 June 1933) was an American playwright, known for big hit works such as ''Brewster's Millions'' (1906) and '' Lightnin' '' (1918). Many of his plays were made into movies. He spent freely but left a large fortun ...

and

L. Lawrence Weber L. Lawrence Weber (c. 1872 – 22 February 1940) was an American sports promoter, stage show producer and theater manager. He was active in arranging Vaudville, vaudeville shows, legitimate theater and films. He once tried to bypass laws against i ...

with the goal of cooperating on common issues such as censorship and ticket speculation. He wanted to set up a forum so the producers could share ideas, and wanted stop the rival organizations poaching each other's stars. This led to formation of the

Producing Managers' Association The Producing Managers' Association (PMA) was a coalition of theatrical managers established on April 23, 1919. Formed in an effort to reduce conflicts between producers and theater managers and share common interests, it became the main vehicle ...

, which may have inadvertently shown actors the value of organizing into the

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American trade union, labor union representing those who work in Theatre, live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions w ...

J. Fred Zimmerman Jr. died in 1948 and was interred at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery, also called Laurel Hill East to distinguish it from the affiliated West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Bala Cynwyd, is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls, Philadelphia, East Falls neighborhood ...

in Philadelphia.

Works

J. Fred Zimmerman Jr. produced: * ''The Measure of a Man'' (1906) * ''Inside the Lines'' (1915) * ''Pals First'' (1917) * ''This Way Out'' (1917)

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, J. Fred Jr. 1871 births 1948 deaths 20th-century theatre managers American theatre managers and producers Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Businesspeople from Philadelphia