Thomas W. Lamb
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Thomas White Lamb (May 5th, 1870 – February 26th, 1942) was a Scottish-born, American
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
. He was one of the foremost designers of
theaters Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
and cinemas in the 20th century.


Career

Born in
Dundee, Scotland Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
, United Kingdom, Thomas W. Lamb came to the United States at the age of 12. He studied architecture at
Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...
in New York and initially worked for the City of New York as an inspector. His architecture firm, Thomas W. Lamb, Inc., was located at 36 West 40th Street in Manhattan, New York. Lamb achieved recognition as one of the leading architects of the boom in
movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
construction of the 1910s and 1920s. Particularly associated with the
Fox Theatres Fox Theatres was a large chain of movie theaters in the United States dating from the 1920s either built by Fox Film studio owner William Fox, or subsequently merged in 1929 by Fox with the West Coast Theatres chain, to form the Fox West Co ...
, Loew's Theatres and Keith-Albee chains of vaudeville and film theaters, Lamb was instrumental in establishing and developing the design and construction of the large, lavishly decorated theaters, known as "
movie palaces A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...
", as showcases for the films of the emerging Hollywood studios. As early as 1904 Lamb was credited with renovations for two existing theaters in the city: the
Weber and Fields Weber (, or ; German: ) is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning " weaver". In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it has been anglicised to the English surname 'Webber' or even 'Weaver'. Notable pe ...
Music Hall at 1215 Broadway, and the Dewey Theater on East 14th Street, the latter owned by Tammany Hall figure "Big Tim" Sullivan. His first complete theater design was the City Theatre, built on 14th Street in 1909 for film mogul William Fox. His designs for the 1914
Mark Strand Theatre The Strand Theatre was an early movie palace located at 1579 Broadway, at the northwest corner of 47th Street and Broadway in Times Square, New York City. Opened in 1914, the theater was later known as the Mark Strand Theatre, the Warner Theatre ...
, the 1916 Rialto Theatre and the 1917 Rivoli Theatre, all in
Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
, set the template for what would become the American movie palace. Among his most notable theaters are the 1929 Fox Theatre in San Francisco and the 1919 Capitol Theatre in New York, both now demolished. Among his most noted designs that have been preserved and restored are the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre in Boston (1928) (now the
Boston Opera House The Boston Opera House, also known as the Citizens Bank Opera House, is a performing arts and esports venue located at 539 Washington St. in Boston, Massachusetts. It was originally built as the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre, a movie palace in ...
), Warner's Hollywood Theatre (1930) in New York (now the Times Square Church), the Hippodrome Theatre (1914) in Baltimore, and the Loew's Ohio Theatre (1928) in Columbus, Ohio. Among Lamb's existing Canadian theaters are the Pantages Theatre in Toronto (1920) (now the
Ed Mirvish Theatre The Ed Mirvish Theatre, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, is a historic film and play theatre in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was initially known as the Pantages Theatre, then becam ...
). and Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. The Cinema Treasures website, which documents the history of film theaters, lists 174 theaters designed by Lamb's company. Aside from movie theaters, Lamb is noted for designing (with
Joseph Urban Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872 – July 10, 1933) was an Austrian-American architect, illustrator, and scenic designer. Life and career Joseph Urban was born on May 26, 1872, in Vienna. He received his first architectural commission at age 19 wh ...
) New York's Ziegfeld Theatre, a legitimate theater, as well as the third
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
and the
Paramount Hotel The Paramount Hotel (formerly the Century-Paramount Hotel) is a hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, the hotel is at 235 West 46th Street, between Eighth Av ...
in midtown Manhattan. Lamb died in 1942 in New York City at the age of 71. His architectural archive is held by the Drawings and Archives Department of Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.


John J. McNamara

During the last ten years of his practice, Lamb's associate was the architect John J. McNamara. After Lamb's death, McNamara continued as an architect of theaters under his own name. McNamara was responsible for renovating some of Lamb's older New York theaters, and among his original designs was one for the 1969 Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan, which replaced Lamb's original building.


Selected theater designs


United States

Image:BF Keith Memorial Theatre, Boston interior.JPG, Interior of B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre, Boston, 1928 (1970) Image:Loews Pitkin jeh.JPG, Pitkin, Brooklyn, 1928 (2010)Cinema Treasures, Brooklyn
/ref> Image:TivoliTheater.jpg, Tivoli, Washington, DC, 1924 (2005) Image:United Palace 175 jeh.jpg, The
United Palace Theater The United Palace (originally Loew's 175th Street Theatre) is a theater at 4140 Broadway in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The theater, occupying a full city block bounded by Broadway, Wadsworth Avenue, and W ...
, formerly Loew's 175th Street Theatre, New York, 1930 (2009) Image:United Palace Balcony.jpg, Interior of the United Palace Theater (2007) Image: Miami Beach FL Lincoln Mall Lincoln Theatre01.jpg, Lincoln Theatre, Lincoln Road, South Beach,
Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...
, 1936 Image:PalaceTheater-WaterburyCT-1.jpg, Palace Theater, Waterbury, Connecticut, 1922 (2016)
* Academy of Music, New York City, 1927 * B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts, 1928 * Capitol Theatre, New York City, 1919 * Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, New York, 1926 * Cort (now James Earl Jones) Theatre, New York City, 1912 * Embassy Theatre, New York City, 1925 *
Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre The Empire Theatre (originally the Eltinge Theatre) is a former Broadway theater at 234 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1912, the theater was designed by Thomas W. Lamb for the Hungarian ...
, New York City, 1912 * Fenway Theatre, Boston, 1915 * Fox Theatre, San Francisco, California, 1929 * Franklin Square Theatre, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1927 * Hippodrome Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland, 1914 *
Hippodrome The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...
, New York City, 1923 redesignMorrison, p. 82 *
Keith-Albee Theatre Keith-Albee Theatre is a performing arts center located along Fourth Avenue in downtown Huntington, West Virginia in the United States of America. The Keith-Albee was named after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation, one of the leading vaudeville ...
, Flushing, Queens, New York, 1928 *
Keith-Albee Theatre Keith-Albee Theatre is a performing arts center located along Fourth Avenue in downtown Huntington, West Virginia in the United States of America. The Keith-Albee was named after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation, one of the leading vaudeville ...
, Huntington, West Virginia, 1928 * Keith-Albee Palace Theatre, Columbus, Ohio, 1926 * Keith-Albee Palace Theatre, Stamford, Connecticut, 1927 * Lincoln Theatre, Miami Beach, Florida, 1936 * Loew's 72nd Street Theatre, New York City, 1930 * Loew's 175th Street Theater, New York City, 1930 * Loew's and United Artists' Ohio Theatre, Columbus, Ohio, 1928 *
Loew's Grand Theatre Loew's Grand Theater, originally DeGive's Grand Opera House, was a movie theater at the corner of Peachtree and Forsyth Streets in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. It was most famous as the site of the 1939 premiere of ''Gone wit ...
, Atlanta, Georgia, 1932 redesign * Loew's Midland Theatre, Kansas City, Missouri, 1927 * Midway Theatre,
Forest Hills, New York Forest Hills is a mostly residential neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeas ...
, 1942 * Loew's Pitkin Theatre, Brooklyn, New York, 1928 * Loew's State Theatre, Playhouse Square, Cleveland, Ohio, 1920 * Loew's State Theatre (Now the TCC Roper Performing Arts Center), Norfolk, Virginia, 1926 * Loew's State Theatre, Times Square, New York City, 1924 * Loew's State Theatre, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1926 *
Loew's Theatre Loews Cineplex Entertainment, also known as Loews Incorporated, is an American theater chain operating in North America. From 1924 until 1959, it was also the parent company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM). The company was originally ca ...
, New Rochelle, New York, 1925 * Loew's State Theatre (Now the Landmark Theatre), Syracuse, New York, 1928 * Madison Square Garden, New York City, 1925 * Madison Theater, Albany, New York, 1929 *
Mark Hellinger Theatre The Mark Hellinger Theatre (formerly the 51st Street Theatre and the Hollywood Theatre) is a church (building), church building at 237 West 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, which forme ...
(now Times Square Church), New York City, 1930 *
Mark Strand Theater The Strand Theatre was an early movie palace located at 1579 Broadway, at the northwest corner of 47th Street and Broadway in Times Square, New York City. Opened in 1914, the theater was later known as the Mark Strand Theatre, the Warner Theatre ...
, New York City, 1914 * Maryland Theatre, Hagerstown, Maryland, 1915 * Municipal Auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama, 1924 * Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square, Cleveland, Ohio, 1921 * Orpheum Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts, 1915 redesign * Palace Theater, Waterbury, Connecticut, 1922 * Poli's Majestic Theatre, Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1922 * Poli's Palace Theatre, Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1922 * Pythian Temple, Manhattan, 1927, the spacious theater the building once housed is gone; the facade remains. * Proctor's 58th Street Theatre, New York City, 1928 * Proctor's 86th Street Theatre, New York City, 1927 * Proctor's Theatre, Schenectady, New York, 1926 * Reade's State Theatre, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1921 * Regent Theatre, New York City, 1913 * Ridgewood Theatre, Ridgewood, New York, 1916 * Rivoli Theatre, New York City, 1917 * Stanley Theatre, Utica, New York, 1928 * State Theatre, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, 1922 * Strand Theatre, Lakewood, New Jersey, 1922 * Tivoli Theatre, Washington, DC, 1924 * Victoria Theater, New York City, 1917 * Warner Theatre, Torrington, Connecticut, 1931 * Warner's Hollywood Theatre, New York City, 1930 * Ziegfeld Theatre, New York City (with
Joseph Urban Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872 – July 10, 1933) was an Austrian-American architect, illustrator, and scenic designer. Life and career Joseph Urban was born on May 26, 1872, in Vienna. He received his first architectural commission at age 19 wh ...
), 1927


Canada

Image:Ottawacapitolmgs2.jpg, Lobby of Capitol Cinema, in
Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, Canada 1920; demolished 1970 Image:Elgin and Wintergarden.JPG, Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres double-decker vaudeville theatres
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
1913-1914 File:CanonTheatre-051123.JPG, The Canon Theatre (now Ed Mirvish Theatre),
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, 1920
* Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres, Toronto, 1913 * The Sanderson Centre, Brantford, Ontario, 1919; auditorium restored in 1990, currently a performing arts centre * Capitol Theatre, Hamilton, Ontario, 1920; 103 King Street East, Hamilton all but lobby demolished in 1973; now vacant after Buttinsky's Bar and Wing Joint closed *
Capitol Theatre (Windsor, Ontario) The Capitol Theatre is a historic theatre in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opened on December 30, 1920 by the Loew Theater Company owned by Marcus Loew at a cost of approximately . Designed by Toronto architect Thomas White Lamb, it was the largest ...
, 1920; currently a performing arts centre.The Capitol Theatre and Arts Centre
* Pantages Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, 1920 * Uptown Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, 1920; demolished in 2003


India

Image:Metro-Cinema.jpg, Metro Cinema, Mumbai, India Image:Metro Cinema - Esplanade - Kolkata 2011-12-18 0024.JPG, Metro Cinema,
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
(Calcutta), 2010
*
Metro Cinema Metro Cinema may refer to: * Metro Cinema (Derby), closed 2008 * Metro Cinema (Mumbai) 1938–2006 name, now Metro BIG Cinemas, Mumbai * Metro Cinema (Kolkata), a single screen movie theatre in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) * Metro Cinema Edmonton, ...
,
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
,
Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
, 1938 *
Metro Cinema Metro Cinema may refer to: * Metro Cinema (Derby), closed 2008 * Metro Cinema (Mumbai) 1938–2006 name, now Metro BIG Cinemas, Mumbai * Metro Cinema (Kolkata), a single screen movie theatre in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) * Metro Cinema Edmonton, ...
,
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
(
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
),
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
, 1935; Currently being renovated.


Residential architecture

In 1920, Lamb designed for himself a private summer home in the
Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...
in the village of
Elizabethtown, New York Elizabethtown is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,163 at the 2010 census. The county seat of Essex County is the hamlet of Elizabethtown, located in the northern part of the town. The name is derived from Eliz ...
. The house, which is still extant as a residence, is situated on the Boquet River. The eight-bedroom manor, referred to today as Cobble Mountain Lodge, is a shingle and cobble stone design marked by the inclusion of a stone turret.


References


External links


Cinema Treasures' List of theatres designed by Thomas W. Lamb.Thomas W. Lamb works in the collection of the
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the wing of the Smithsonian Ins ...
* Gray, Christopher
Streetscapes: Thomas W. Lamb’s Theaters, An Architect for Stage and Screen
''Wired New York'', October 5, 2008
Thomas W. Lamb Architecture on Google MapsThomas W. Lamb and John J. McNamara architectural records, 1895-1989, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia UniversityLamb, Thomas W. fonds (R12543)
at
Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Thomas W. 1871 births 1942 deaths American theatre architects Architecture firms based in New York City Architects from New York City People from Dundee