Benjamin Franklin Keith was born on January 26, 1846 at Hillsboro Bridge, New Hampshire, United States, the youngest of the eight children of Samuel C. and Rhoda (Gerould) Keith. His father was of Scotch descent, his mother of French extraction. At seven he began to work on a Western Massachusetts farm.
Keith attended the district school and the village academy during the winter months.
At seventeen Keith joined the circus after attending Van Amburg's Circus and soon thereafter he removed to New York, obtaining employment with Bunnell's Museum. He next became connected with P. T. Barnum and later with the Forepaugh circus. He continued in the circus business, both as employer and proprietor, until 1885. In the meantime, however, he added to his theatrical experience by taking small shows on the road, "on three consecutive occasions returning home with his finances completely exhausted. " His career as a vaudeville proprietor and promoter began in 1883, when in partnership with Colonel William Austin he opened a popular-priced show in Boston. In this venture he was successful.
As part owner of the Gaiety Theatre, Boston, he began the first "continuous performance" shows in America. He conceived the idea of operating a chain of popular-priced vaudeville theatres throughout the country which would furnish refined entertainment to the public and at the same time raise the standard of vaudeville from the coarse and vulgar type which had characterized this form of public amusement in America for many years. He induced stars from the legitimate stage to appear in vaudeville and during his years as a manager the salaries of performers increased tremendously. The number of theatres under his control grew rapidly and he was enabled to concentrate his organization into the Keith's Circuit, and later the United Booking Offices, with headquarters in New York.
In 1906 he joined with F. F. Proctor in organizing the Keith & Proctor Amusement Company, which became almost a synonym for American vaudeville. Toward the end of his career he associated with himself in his business his general manager, E. F. Albee, and his only son. During the last five years of his life owing partly to ill health he withdrew from active participation in his theatrical ventures, and at the time of his death at Palm Beach, Florida, his business affairs were given over to his son to whom he willed his entire estate. He maintained his residence in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he was an active patron of the art and musical institutions in the neighboring city of Boston.
Keith was twice married. His first wife was Mary Catherine Branley, daughter of Charles Branley of Providence, Rhode Island, whom he married in 1873. She died in 1910, leaving one son, Andrew Paul Keith. He married again on October 29, 1913, Ethel Bird Chase, daughter of Plympton B. Chase of Akron, Ohio, and Washington, D. C.
