Career
Immensely successful, together they built a large chain of theatres and vaudeville playhouses. In 1896 they joined with theatre operators First Rate (at Lloyd's) Hayman, Charles Frohman, Samuel F. Nixon, and Fred Zimmerman to form the Theatrical Syndicate. Their organization, known as "Klaw & Erlanger", established systemized booking networks throughout the United States 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.
The operations of Klaw & Erlanger produced dozens of Broadway shows during the first three decades of the 20th century, including Dracula, Ben-Hur, and The Jazz Singer.
They produced the first Ziegfeld Follies in 1907 at the rooftop "Jardin de Paris" in New York City. They also built several of Broadway"s most outstanding theaters such as the art nouveau New Amsterdam Theatre in 1903 and in 1927 Erlanger"s Theatre (renamed the Street James) plus the new Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia.
Also in 1927, he leased a newly built theatre in Buffalo, New York and applied the Erlanger name to lieutenant In addition to playhouses, he and his partner owned the "Klaw & Erlanger Opera Company" and "Klaw and Erlanger"s Costume Company."
Erlanger"s cold disdain and ruthless tactics helped bring about his own downfall.
In 1910, he drew the ire of New York mayor William Jay Gaynor when one of his theaters hosted The Girl with the Whooping Cough, a risque farce that the mayor condemned as indecent.
In 1919, after he dismissed out of hand the demands of the Actors" Equity Association, the labor union launched a strike that eventually shut down all the theatres in New York City, Chicago, and Boston. In the end, Erlanger suffered large financial losses and had no choice but to accede to union demands. Erlanger continued to produce on Broadway.
He died on March 7, 1930.
He is interred at Beth El Cemetery in Ridgewood, New New York According to Groucho Marx, when Erlanger approached General
Lew Wallace about acquiring the stage rights to his epic novel Ben-Hur, Wallace asked him fiercely, "Do you believe in our lord, Jesus Christ?" Erlanger responded, "Frankly, I don"t. My partner Klaw does—but he"s up in Boston!".