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Marc Klaw

Marc Klaw (born Marcus Alonzo Klaw , May 29, 1858 – June 14, 1936) was an American lawyer , theatrical producer , theater owner, and a leading figure of the Theatrical Syndicate...

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Marc Klaw (born Marcus Alonzo Klaw, May 29, 1858 – June 14, 1936) was an American lawyer, theatrical producer, theater owner, and a leading figure of the Theatrical Syndicate.

Life and work

Referred to as both Mark and Marc, he was born in Paducah, Kentucky, the child of Jewish immigrants from Germany.[1] He studied law at Louisville Law School, graduating in 1879. He established a law practice in Louisville, and worked as a part-time drama critic.

In 1881 he moved to New York City to work on legal issues regarding the theater for theater executive Gustave Frohman. Klaw was drawn to the theater business, and for several years was a manager of tours. He formed a partnership with A. L. "Abe" Erlanger that started as a theatrical booking agency in New York City in 1888.

Operating as "Klaw & Erlanger" they expanded their business through the acquisition and construction of theaters, to the point where they controlled most of the theaters in the U.S. South and several major locations in New York. Among their holdings were they owned "Klaw and Erlanger's Costume Company" and the "Klaw & Erlanger Opera Company."

By 1895 Klaw & Erlanger were the second largest booking company in the US.[2]

In 1896, Klaw & Erlanger joined with Al Hayman, Charles Frohman, Samuel F. Nixon, and J. Fred Zimmerman to form the "Theatrical Syndicate". Their organization established systemized booking networks throughout the US and created a monopoly that controlled every aspect of contracts and bookings until the late 1910s when the Shubert brothers broke their hold on the industry.[2][3]

Una lápida de granito en un cementerio cubierto de hierba.
Klaw's grave at St John the Baptist's Church, Clayton, England, photographed in 2014. The date of birth is inscribed as 1859

Despite being nearly universally despised in the industry for their ruthless tactics, Klaw and Erlanger produced dozens of Broadway plays and financed many others including the early editions of the Ziegfeld Follies.[4]

La sociedad de Klaw y Erlanger se vio perjudicada por la huelga de Actors' Equity de 1919. La sociedad se disolvió ese mismo año, [ 5 ] y la última producción de Broadway de "Klaw y Erlanger" fue en 1919 ( The Velvet Lady ). [ 4 ] Posteriormente, Klaw construyó el Teatro Klaw y produjo obras de teatro hasta su retiro en 1927.

Años posteriores

Después de su retiro, en 1929 Klaw se mudó a Inglaterra, donde murió en 1936 en Bracken Fell, Hassocks , West Sussex. [ 2 ] [ 5 ] Está enterrado en el cementerio de la iglesia de San Juan Bautista, Clayton .

Referencias

  1. ↑ Tenney, John. «Marc Klaw». En Emprendimiento inmigrante: Biografías empresariales germano-estadounidenses, 1720 hasta la actualidad , vol. 4, editado por Jeffrey Fear. Instituto Histórico Alemán. Última modificación: 19 de marzo de 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 «Marcus Klaw» Diccionario biográfico de líderes empresariales estadounidenses , 1983, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-23908-8págs. 724-726
  3. ↑ "The Theatrical Syndicate" Archivado el 20 de enero de 2012 en Wayback Machine wayneturney.20m.com, consultado el 3 de diciembre de 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Marc Klaw Broadway Listing" Listado de la base de datos de Internet Broadway, consultado el 3 de diciembre de 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Marc Klaw muere en Inglaterra a los 78 años" The New York Times , 15 de junio de 1936, pág. 21

Lecturas adicionales

  • Tenney, John (19 de marzo de 2014). "Marc Klaw" . Emprendimiento inmigrante: biografías empresariales germano-estadounidenses, de 1720 hasta la actualidad . Instituto Histórico Alemán . Recuperado el 27 de noviembre de 2015 .