L. Lawrence Weber (c. 1872 – 22 February 1940) was an American sports promoter, stage show producer and theater manager. He was active in arranging vaudeville shows, legitimate theater and films. He once tried to bypass laws against importing a boxing film to the USA by projecting it on a screen just across the border in Canada and filming the screening from the USA side.

Early years

L. Lawrence Weber was born in New York City in 1869. At the age of thirteen, in 1882, he organized a company of young amateur minstrels who toured Long Island, New York. He posted the company's bills, took tickets and performed on stage. In 1883, he joined the Excelsior Minstrels. For a period Weber was the secretary of the British Minister to Japan, and became the American representative of the Japanese Government Tea Syndicate. In 1897, Weber was proprietor of Weber's Olympia Company and the Marion Extravaganza Company. These consisted of two touring theater companies and two other attractions. Weber became one of the leaders of the

Columbia burlesque wheel The Columbia Amusement Company, also called the Columbia Wheel or the Eastern Burlesque Wheel, was a show business organization that produced burlesque shows in the United States between 1902 and 1927. Each year, about four dozen Columbia burlesqu ...

, or the Eastern Wheel, with Samuel Scribner and

Gus Hill Gus Hill (22 February 1858 – 20 April 1937) was an American vaudeville performer who juggled Indian clubs. He later became a burlesque and vaudeville entrepreneur. Hill was one of the founders of the Columbia Amusement Company, an association o ...

, later to be part of the Columbia Amusement Company. They wanted to attract women to their shows, and promoted relatively clean entertainment. In 1908, they banned wrestling and prize fighting from their circuit. However, Columbia set up a second circuit in 1915, the American Burlesque Association, that staged raunchier shows. On 4 December 1910, Weber announced a plan to form a circuit of popular theaters, the Lawrence Weber Co-operative Booking Circuit. The investors were Weber, Sam A. Scribner, John Herbert Mack and Rudolph K. Hynicka. They planned to acquire forty theaters in cities around the United States and Canada, and to supply them with forty theater companies playing in rotation. They would put on equal numbers of melodramas, society plays, comedy dramas, farce comedies and musical comedies, charging popular prices. The partners were all associated with the "Eastern Wheel" of burlesque theaters, which had a similar business model. In 1914, Weber joined

The Lambs Club The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a social club in New York City for actors, songwriters, and others involved in the theatre. It is America's oldest theatrical organization. "The Lambs" is a registered trademark of The Lambs, Inc ...

Cinema

Weber was one of the sponsors of a film made of a boxing match in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba, on 5 April 1915 between Jack Johnson and

Jess Willard Jess Myron Willard (December 29, 1881 – December 15, 1968) was an American world heavyweight boxing champion billed as the Pottawatomie Giant who knocked out Jack Johnson in April 1915 for the heavyweight title. Willard was known for size rat ...

. He obtained the copyright on the film. He was refused permission to import it on the basis of a Federal law prohibiting import of such films for public exhibition. Weber argued that this law was not constitutional, since it infringed on the rights of states. The case was heard in the Supreme Court in December 1915, and decided against Weber. In 1916, Weber made a widely publicized attempt to bypass the restriction. He set up a motion picture camera south of the border between New York and Canada, pointing to a screen on the Canadian side on which each frame of the film of the 1915 Havana fight was projected, thus creating a duplicate negative. He lost the court case that followed on the basis that he had violated the spirit of the law. Weber,

Bobby North Robert North (February 2, 1884 – August 13, 1976) was an American vaudeville performer who became a success as a stand-up comedian. Later he became a prolific motion picture producer. Early years Bobby North was born in New York City. He joine ...

Aaron Hoffman Aaron Hoffman (October 30, 1880, in St. Louis, Missouri – May 27, 1924) was an American writer and lyricist, whose work was in wide use among vaudeville comedians. He wrote material for numerous performers, including Lew Dockstader and Weber an ...

and Harry J. Cohen organized Popular Plays and Players, the precursor of

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leased f ...

. In 1914, the Popular Plays and Players production company issued a film version of Jules Verne's ''Michael Strogoff''. In March 1915, Weber, whom ''Variety'' described as a "colorful showman, sports promoter", was involved in founding Metro Pictures. As of June 1915, Weber was acting head of Popular Plays and Players.

Weber later formed the L. Lawrence Weber Photodrama Corporation to make films, and in 1917, made '' Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman'', starring

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said, "By virtue of its artistry, intensely sustained suspense and irrefutable logic,

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

must grip audiences for many seasons." The production company made ''The Blue Pearl'' in 1920 based on the play by Anne Crawford Flexner, starring

Edith Hallor Edith Hallor (March 26, 1896 – May 21, 1971) was an American stage and film actress.Wlaschin p.54 She starred in a number of films during the silent era. She later appeared in a handful of minor, uncredited roles during the sound era. Hallo ...

Lumsden Hare Francis Lumsden Hare (17 October 1874 – 28 August 1964) was an Irish-born film and theatre actor. He was also a theatre director and theatrical producer. Early years Hare studied at St. Dunstan's College in London. Career Hare appeare ...

Earl Schenck Earl O. Schenck (13 May 1889 – 1962) was an American film actor. He appeared in 41 films between 1916 and 1946. Career After playing leading roles on Broadway and in Hollywood during the Silent era opposite such stars as Mae Murray ...

and John Halliday.

Post-war

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 films. ...

arranged a meeting with his fellow producers J. Fred Zimmerman Jr.,

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

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...

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 fort ...

and Weber 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 referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

. In 1921, Weber and William B. Friedlander were in partnership to present dramatic, musical and vaudeville attractions at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and was named for Longacre Square, now known a ...

on Broadway. In 1923, Weber was managing the Little Theatre on Broadway. He had leased it from

Winthrop Ames Winthrop Ames (November 25, 1870 – November 3, 1937) was an American theatre director and producer, playwright and screenwriter. For three decades at the beginning of the 20th century, Ames was an important force on Broadway, whose repertoir ...

in partnership with

and F. Ray Comstock. That year the theater staged

Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred ...

's comedies ''Polly Preferred and Chicken Feed. ''Chicken Feed'' had a successful run, but had to close when Weber moved his ''

Little Jessie James ''Little Jessie James'' was a musical farce that was the biggest hit of the 1923-24 Broadway season. Production ''Little Jessie James'' was written by Harlan Thompson, the author of the book and the lyrics. The music was by Harry Archer. It wa ...

'' from the ''Longacre'' to the ''Little''. In 1925, Weber went into partnership with Harry Houdini to present a traveling show that featured the magician. The show opened on 31 August 1925 at the Maryland Theater in Baltimore for three nights. It came to New York in December 1925. The show ran for two and a half hours in three acts. The first act featured magic tricks, in the second Houdini performed one of his famous escapes, and the third act gave an exposé of fraudulent techniques used by spirit mediums.

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

said the third act was "riveting, like a perverse sort of revival meeting". After Houdini died in October 1926, Weber was one of the honorary pallbearers at his funeral. On 23 May 1925, the Darlington Golf and Country Club opened in Mahwah, New Jersey, with Weber named president. After an impressive opening festival, the club soon ran into financial problems and was forced into foreclosure. In March 1934, it was announced that Weber was among the patrons of a concert of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to be held at Carnegie Hall. Proceeds were to be used for a drive to boycott German imports. Weber died in New York City on 22 February 1940. He was aged about 71.

Work

Weber's stage works included: *''His Little Widows'' (Musical, Comedy – Producer) Apr 30, 1917 – Jun 30, 1917 *''The Very Idea'' (Play – Producer) Aug 09, 1917 – Aug 1917 *''Yes or No'' (Play – Producer, director) Dec 21, 1917 – Apr 1918 *''Nothing But Lies'' (Play – Producer) Oct 08, 1918 – Feb 1919 *''Nobody's Money'' (Play, Comedy, Farce – Producer) Aug 17, 1921 – Sep 1921 *''Cobra'' (Play, Drama – Producer) Apr 22, 1924 – Jun 1924 *''Moonlight'' (Musical, Comedy – Producer) Jan 30, 1924 – Jun 28, 1924 *''

'' (Musical, Farce, Comedy – Producer, Theater manager) Aug 15, 1923 – Jul 19, 1924 *''Mercenary Mary'' (Musical, Comedy – Producer) Apr 13, 1925 – Aug 08, 1925 *''The Sea Woman'' (Play – Producer) Aug 24, 1925 – Sep 1925 *''The Dagger'' (Play, Melodrama – Producer) Sep 09, 1925 – Sep 1925 *''Sour Grapes'' (Play, Comedy – Theater manager) Sep 06, 1926 – Oct 1926 *''Lady Alone'' (Play – Producer) Jan 20, 1927 – Feb 1927 *''The Crown Prince'' (Play, Romance – Producer) Mar 23, 1927 – May 1927 *''Bye, Bye, Bonnie'' (Musical, Comedy – Producer) Jan 13, 1927 – Apr 30, 1927 *''The Command to Love'' (Play, Comedy – Theater manager) Sep 20, 1927 – Apr 1928 *''Romancin' Round'' (Play, Comedy, Drama – Producer) Oct 03, 1927 – Oct 1927 *''The Love Call'' (Musical – Produced in association with L. Lawrence Weber) Oct 24, 1927 – Jan 07, 1928 *''Nice Women'' (Play, Comedy – Producer) Jun 10, 1929 – Aug 1929 *''Her Friend the King'' (Play, Comedy – Producer) Oct 07, 1929 – Oct 1929 *''Diana'' (Play, Drama – Producer) Dec 09, 1929 – Dec 1929 *''Family Affairs'' (Play, Comedy – Producer) Dec 10, 1929 – Dec 1929 *''Ritzy'' (Play, Comedy – Producer) Feb 10, 1930 – Mar 1930 *''Overture'' (Play, Drama – Theater manager) Dec 05, 1930 – Jan 1931 *''She Lived Next to the Firehouse'' (Play, Farce – Producer) Feb 10, 1931 – Mar 1931 *'Napi'' (Play, Comedy – Producer) Mar 11, 1931 – Mar 1931 *''The Man Who Reclaimed His Head'' (Play, Drama – Producer) Sep 08, 1932 – Oct 1932 *''Strip Girl'' (Play, Comedy – Producer) Oct 19, 1935 – Nov 1935 *''The Man Who Killed Lincoln'' (Play, Drama – Performer) Jan 17, 1940 – Jan 20, 1940

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, L. Lawrence 1869 births 1940 deaths American theatre managers and producers Harry Houdini