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Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26, 1846 – March 26, 1914) was an American vaudeville
Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a genre of a variety show prevalent on the theatre in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. It developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrel show, freak shows, dime museums, and literary burlesque....
 theatre owner, generally credited for the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville.

as born in Hillsboro Bridge
Hillsborough, New Hampshire

Hillsborough, frequently spelled Hillsboro, is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,928 at the 2000 census....
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States of America. The state was named after the southern English Counties of England of Hampshire....
.






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Bf Keith Memorial Theatre, Boston Interior
Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26, 1846 – March 26, 1914) was an American vaudeville
Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a genre of a variety show prevalent on the theatre in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. It developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrel show, freak shows, dime museums, and literary burlesque....
 theatre owner, generally credited for the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville.

Early years

He was born in Hillsboro Bridge
Hillsborough, New Hampshire

Hillsborough, frequently spelled Hillsboro, is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,928 at the 2000 census....
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States of America. The state was named after the southern English Counties of England of Hampshire....
. He joined the circus after attending Van Amburg's Circus and then worked at Bunnell's Museum in New York City in the early 1860s. He later joined P.T. Barnum and then joined the Forepaugh Circus, before he opened a curio museum in Boston, in 1883, with Colonel William Austin
William Austin

William Austin was a Great Britian character actor who was born in Georgetown, Guyana in British Guiana and appeared in many American films and Serial between the 1920s and the 1940s, though the vast majority of his roles were small and uncredited....
. In 1885 he joined Edward Franklin Albee II
Edward Franklin Albee II

Edward Franklin Albee II was a vaudeville impresario, and the adoptive grandfather of Edward Franklin Albee III, the playwright.He was born in Machias, Maine to Edward Franklin Albee I....
, who was selling circus tickets, in founding and operating the Boston Bijou Theatre. Their opening show was on July 6, 1885. The theatre was one of the early adopters of the continuous variety show which ran from 10:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night, every day. Previously, shows ran at fixed intervals with several hours of downtime between shows. With the continuous show, you could enter the theatre at anytime, and stay until you reached the point in the show where you walked in.

Moving pictures

Albee and Keith opened the Union Square Theatre in New York City, and it was the site of the first American exhibition of the Lumière Cinématographe. The first showing was on June 29, 1896, they had obtained the exclusive American rights to the Lumière apparatus and their film output. They then opened theatres in Philadelphia, and Boston, and then smaller theatres in the East and Midwest of the United States, buying out rival smaller chains. They signed a contract with Biograph Studios
Biograph Studios

File:Biograph poster2.jpgBiograph Studios was a studio facility and film laboratory complex built in 1912 by the Biograph Company, formerly American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, at 807 E....
 in 1896 which lasted until July 1905 when they switched to Edison Studios
Edison Studios

Edison Studios was an United States motion picture production company owned by the Edison Company of inventor Thomas Edison. The studio made close to 1,200 films as the Edison Manufacturing Company and Thomas A....
 as their supplier of motion pictures. Keith and Albee merged their theatre circuit with Frederick Freeman Proctor
Frederick Freeman Proctor

Frederick Freeman Proctor or F.F. Proctor was a vaudeville impresario who pioneered the method of continuous vaudeville. He opened the Twenty-third Street Theatre in New York City....
 in June 1906.

Death

Keith withdrew from business in 1909 and married for a second time on October 28, 1913 to Ethel Bird Chase (1887-1971). She was 26 years old and Keith was 67. Her father was P. B. Chase. Keith died at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida

The Town of Palm Beach is an upscale incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach, Florida and Lake Worth, Florida....
 in 1914. After his son, Andrew Keith, died in 1918, control of the company went to Albee.

Legacy

After Keith's death, the Keith-Albee-Orpheum
Keith-Albee-Orpheum

The Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation was the owner of a chain of vaudeville and motion picture theatres. It was formed by the merger of the holdings of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II and Martin Beck 's Orpheum Circuit, Inc.....
 (KAO) corporation was formed in Marysville, Washington
Marysville, Washington

Marysville is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, Washington, United States. The population was 25,315 at the 2000 United States Census. Marysville is known as "The Strawberry City" due to the large number of strawberry farms that once surrounded the city in its earlier days....
.

Timeline

  • 1846 Birth in Hillsboro Bridge, New Hampshire
    New Hampshire

    New Hampshire is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States of America. The state was named after the southern English Counties of England of Hampshire....
     on January 26
  • 1883 Partnered with Colonel William Austin
    William Austin

    William Austin was a Great Britian character actor who was born in Georgetown, Guyana in British Guiana and appeared in many American films and Serial between the 1920s and the 1940s, though the vast majority of his roles were small and uncredited....
     in Boston
  • 1885 Partnered with Edward Franklin Albee II
    Edward Franklin Albee II

    Edward Franklin Albee II was a vaudeville impresario, and the adoptive grandfather of Edward Franklin Albee III, the playwright.He was born in Machias, Maine to Edward Franklin Albee I....
  • 1896 Opens Union Square Theatre in New York City
  • 1906 Partnered with Frederick Freeman Proctor
    Frederick Freeman Proctor

    Frederick Freeman Proctor or F.F. Proctor was a vaudeville impresario who pioneered the method of continuous vaudeville. He opened the Twenty-third Street Theatre in New York City....
  • 1909 Retires
  • 1913 Marriage to Ethel Bird Chase (1887-1971)
  • 1914 Death in Palm Beach, Florida
    Palm Beach, Florida

    The Town of Palm Beach is an upscale incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach, Florida and Lake Worth, Florida....
     on March 26
  • 1918 Death of his son Andrew Keith (c1870-1918)
  • 1928 His company merges with Orpheum Circuit, Inc.
    Orpheum Circuit, Inc.

    Orpheum Circuit, Inc. was a company started by Martin Beck who owned a series of vaudeville theatres and motion picture theatres.Orpheum Circuit, Inc....
     on January 28


Further reading


External links

  • at IMDB