Marc Klaw was an American theatrical booking agent, manager, and producer. During his career, he maintained his own law practice, worked as a journalist, formed a partnership with A. L. "Abe" Erlanger and became the member of the "Theatrical Syndicate".
Background
Marc Klaw was born on May 29, 1858 in Paducah, Kentucky, United States, the third son and youngest of four children of Leopold and Caroline K. (Blumgart) Klaw. His father, who was of Bavarian descent, died when Marc was five years old. The family subsequently moved to Louisville.
Education
Marc attended public schools in Louisville and the Louisville Law School, receiving the Bachelor of Laws degree in 1879. With one of his brothers in the army and another unable to work, the support of the family fell largely upon Marc's shoulders, and all through school he worked before and after classes and during the lunch hour.
Career
About 1879 Klaw started a law practice in Louisville and, to help increase his income, also accepted a position as a reporter. During the next two years Klaw worked for three different Louisville newspapers, part of the time as a drama critic. In 1881 he was employed by Gustave Frohman, brother of the famous Charles and Daniel Frohman, to discover and prosecute the unauthorized producers of several plays controlled by the Frohmans, among them Hazel Kirke. Success in this venture led Klaw directly into theatrical management, and he moved to New York.
He enjoyed considerable success as a manager of touring companies, mostly in the South, gaining a thorough knowledge of theatrical road conditions and making many friends among theatre owners and managers. Arrangements for the booking of touring theatrical companies were chaotic in the 1880's, and as a consequence both they and local theatre managers suffered serious losses of revenue. To remedy this situation, many new agencies were being organized, and in 1888 Klaw joined with Abraham L. Erlanger to take over the Taylor Theatrical Exchange, a New York booking agency. Through their wide acquaintanceship with southern theatre managers Klaw and Erlanger were able to acquire exclusive booking privileges for most of the first-class theatres in the South, and before long they controlled virtually every important southern booking route.
In 1896 Klaw and Erlanger joined with Charles Frohman, Al Hayman, Samuel F. Nixon, and J. Frederick Zimmerman to organize what became known as the Theatrical Syndicate. Together these six men controlled the bookings for more than five hundred leading theatres throughout the country. Borrowing the methods of industrial trusts, they were able to establish a virtual monopoly by agreeing to supply attractions only to those theatres which were willing to be booked exclusively by the Syndicate and at the same time arranging bookings only for those stars who would agree to appear exclusively in Syndicate-controlled theatres. Because of the dire need for booking reform, and because of their mutual need for one another, theatre managers and traveling stars alike agreed to the Syndicate's stipulations. Despite occasional revolts by actors and managers, the Syndicate was able to maintain its power until about 1910. Thereafter it was forced to share control with the Shubert brothers, who, despite their own monopolistic intentions, had been able to win over a sufficient number of actors and managers to break the Syndicate's monopoly.
As members of the Syndicate, Klaw and Erlanger were responsible for booking all attractions under the organization's control. So efficiently did they reorganize booking routes that to them must go much of the credit for bringing order out of chaos; to them also, of course, must go much of the blame for the evils which resulted from their monopoly. Partly because of the growth of the Shubert organization, and partly because of illnesses and retirements within its own ranks, the Syndicate began to disintegrate as a theatrical power in 1911. By 1912 its affairs were managed almost entirely by Klaw and Erlanger, and they continued their partnership after the dissolution of the Syndicate in 1916.
During the first World War Klaw served as director of entertainment for army training camps. Shortly thereafter the long and successful partnership of Klaw and Erlanger was dissolved, as a result of increasing friction growing out of a personal disagreement. Klaw continued his theatrical activities independently, organizing Marc Klaw, Inc. , in 1920, but he became steadily less active professionally and in 1927 announced his retirement.
From 1929 on he lived quietly in Hassocks, Sussex, England. There he died, of a heart attack, and was buried. Although he was also active as a manager and producer, it was as a booking agent that Klaw did his most significant work in the theatre.
Achievements
Personality
Klaw was a man of warmth and attractive personality. Of slight build and medium height, he dressed well and comported himself with dignity. His sensitivity to the feelings of others and ability to get along well with people made him a valuable asset to the Syndicate, for he possessed the personal qualities which Erlanger lacked. Where Erlanger was blunt, Klaw was gracious; where Erlanger was arbitrary and autocratic, Klaw was reasonable and persuasive. As a result, many actors and managers who refused to deal with Erlanger willingly negotiated with Klaw.
Connections
Klaw was married twice, the first time, in 1882, to Antoinette M. Morris. Some years after her death he married Blanche Violet Day Harris, in 1925. By his first marriage he had two sons, Joseph and Alonzo.