Charles Frohman  Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theatre manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced "Peter Pan", both in London and the US, the latter production starring Maude Adams who would be strongly identified with the part. In 1896, Frohman co-founded the Theatrical Syndicate, a nationwide chain of theatres that dominated the American touring company business, until the Shubert brothers grew strong enough to end its virtual monopoly. He partnered with English producers, including Seymour Hicks, with whom he produced a string of London hits prior to 1910, such as "Quality Street", "The Admirable Crichton", "The Catch of the Season", "The Beauty of Bath", and "A Waltz Dream". Frohman produced over 700 shows. At the height of his fame, Frohman died in the 1915 sinking of the RMS "Lusitania". Charles Frohman was born to a Jewish family in Sandusky, Ohio, the youngest of three Frohman brothers, including Daniel and Gustave. The year of his birth date is generally erroneously reported as 1860, and his birthday is shown as July 16 on his tombstone, but the correct date is July 15, 1856. In 1864, Frohman's family moved to New York City. At the age of twelve, Frohman started to work at night in the office of the "New York Tribune", attending school by day. In 1874, he began work for the "Daily Graphic" and at night sold tickets at Hooley's Theatre, Brooklyn. In 1877, he took charge of the Chicago Comedy Co., with John Dillon as star in "Our Boys". He next joined Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels as manager, touring the U.S. and Europe. Then for a time he was associated with his brothers Daniel and Gustave in managing the Madison Square Theatre, New York. He began to produce plays by 1886. Frohman's first success as a producer was with Bronson Howard's play "Shenandoah" (1889). Frohman founded the Empire Theatre Stock Company to acquire his first Broadway theatre, the Empire, in 1892. The following year, he produced his first Broadway play, Clyde Fitch's "Masked Ball". In this piece, Maude Adams first played opposite John Drew, which led to many future successes.