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F. F. Proctor

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Frederick Freeman Proctor
Proctor circa 1909
Born(1851-03-17)March 17, 1851
Dexter, Maine
DiedSeptember 4, 1929(1929-09-04) (aged 78)
Larchmont, New York
Known forVaudeville
Parent(s)Alpheus Proctor
Lucy Ann Tufts
RelativesJohn William Merrow, nephew

Frederick Freeman Proctor (March 17, 1851 – September 4, 1929), aka F. F. Proctor, was a variety theatre impresario who pioneered "continuous vaudeville" at his 23rd Street Theater in New York City as well as the introduction of motion pictures into vaudeville theaters.[1]

Bio

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Frederick Freeman Proctor was born to Alpheus Proctor and Lucy Ann Tufts in Dexter, Maine, where his father was a country doctor.[2][3] [4] According to vaudeville historian Joe Laurie Jr., Proctor broke into show business when the acrobat (and later theater manager) George Mansfield noticed him working out at the YMCA and recruited him as a partner in his act, which involved juggling barrels with his feet. Starting in 1865, Proctor worked with Mansfield in Europe and North America as the "Levantine Brothers" and later as a solo "equilibrist." He would make his fortune, however, in theatrical management.[5] [6][7]

Proctor took over the Novelty Theatre, on Green Street in Albany, NY., in 1881, running it as "Levantine's Novelty Theatre." In 1883, he made his last appearance as a performer and in partnership with circus owner William Coup, opened a museum and theatre in Rochester, New York, where the Grau company presented comic operas.[8] [9]

In 1884, he launched a partnership with dime museum operator Henry R. Jacobs, and together with him turned the Martin Opera House in Albany into "Jacobs & Proctor's Museum" (later upgraded to "Jacobs & Proctor's Theatre"). The partnership's empire expanded to include a host of venues in Schenectady, Rochester, Utica, Buffalo, Syracuse, Brooklyn, Troy, New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, Lancaster, Lynn, Wilmington, Worcester and other cities. [10] [11] After breaking up with Jacobs, Proctor was left with only two Albany theaters. But in 1889, he opened his most famous theater, Proctor's Twenty-third Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Manhattan and, emulating B.F. Keith in Boston, began presenting "continuous vaudeville" c. 1891. He teamed up for a time with Keith but the partnership broke up.[12] [13] At his height, Proctor had a chain of fifty theaters. In 1929, he sold his remaining eleven to RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum).[14]

In 1872, Proctor married the "serio-comic" singer Mary Ann "Polly" Daly (1853-1901), who performed with him until 1880. The couple had a son, F.F. Freeman, Jr., and three daughters, Ellenor, Henrietta and Emma. In 1904, Proctor married Georgena Eliza Miles (1861-1965). He died on September 4, 1929 of lung cancer.[15]

Newark, New Jersey

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Warren G. Harris writes:

Proctor's [at 116 Market Street] in downtown Newark was one of the rare 'double decker' theatres. Designed by architect John William Merrow, the eight-story complex had a large 2,300-seat theatre at ground level and a smaller theatre of about 900 seats occupying the top four floors beneath the roof. This fairly narrow building contained only the lobby of the larger theatre, which had its auditorium behind it. Very little has been reported about the operation of the upstairs theatre, which was apparently seldom used until the early 1960s, when it was renovated for the presentation of "foreign" films as the Penthouse Cinema. But the main theatre, with its cavernous two balconies, was always one of Newark's leaders, first with vaudeville only and eventually taken over by movies exclusively. When all of F.F. Proctor's theatres were acquired by Radio-Keith-Orpheum, it became known as RKO Proctor's. The theatre eventually fell victim to the urban decline of Newark and to RKO's merger with Stanley-Warner, which operated the nearby and larger Branford. The new management decided to close Proctor's, and it has been standing more or less derelict ever since.

Schenectady, New York

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Proctor opened his first theater in Schenectady, New York in 1912, near the Erie Canal. On April 14, 1925, ground was broken for the "new" Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady, New York at its present site. Designed by famed theater architect Thomas W. Lamb, the theater cost $1.5 million to build and had a seating capacity of 2,700. On December 27, 1926, Proctor's Theatre opened with a showing of Stranded in Paris, a silent film starring Bebe Daniels.

Inside was a $50,000 Wurlitzer organ. Over 7,100 paid admissions were collected. In 1928, sound equipment was installed for the "talkies". On May 22, 1930, Proctor's was the site of an early demonstration of wide-screen television. An orchestra led by the image of a conductor that was sent from the General Electric laboratories over a mile away, and projected onto a seven-foot screen. The experiment was by Ernst Alexanderson.[16][17]

RKO

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In 1929, the chain was sold to the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation (RKO).[citation needed]

Death

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Frederick F. Proctor died in 1929 at his home in Larchmont, New York, aged 78 years; death was due to congestion of his lungs.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "F. F. Proctor Dead. Dean of Vaudeville. Founded a Chain of Theatres Recently Sold to RadioKeith-Orpheum Circuit. Gymnast of Note at First. Had to Help Support Family as Boy at Father's Death. Fortune Estimated at $16,000,000. Starts a Chain of Theatres. Introduced Continuous Shows. Tributes From Associates.". The New York Times. September 5, 1929. Frederick Francis Proctor, prominent for more than half a century in New York theatricals and dean of vaudeville managers, died at his home in Larchmont, New York, yesterday, at the age of 78 years, after an illness of several months. Death was due to congestion of the lungs.
  2. ^ 1880 US Census; Dexter, Maine
  3. ^ Cullen, Frank (2007). Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-93853-2.
  4. ^ Ancestry.com Proctor family tree
  5. ^ Albany Times, December 20, 1886
  6. ^ Billboard, August 5, 1911, p. 16
  7. ^ Ancestry.com Proctor family tree.
  8. ^ The Argus (Albany), March 13, 1881; Albany Evening Times, August 3, 1883; Billboard, August 5, 1911, p. 16
  9. ^ Ancestry.com Proctor family tree
  10. ^ Albany Evening Journal, June 4, 1884; <https://grainoncescattered.org/2017/12/07/the-albany-theatre-on-south-pearl-street//
  11. ^ Albany Times, December 20, 1886
  12. ^ Billboard, August 5, 1911, p. 7, p. 16
  13. ^ Grau, Robert. The Business Man in the Amusement World, New York: Broadway Publishing, 1910.
  14. ^ Laurie Jr., Joe. Vaudeville From the Honky-tonks to the Palace, New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1953.
  15. ^ see Grau, above. Ancestry.com Proctor family tree.
  16. ^ Stashower, Daniel (2002). The Boy Genius and the Mogul The Untold Story of Television. Crown. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-7679-1321-8. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  17. ^ Richards, Rashna Wadia (2021). Cinematic TV. Oxford University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-19-007128-8. Retrieved 11 December 2023.

He built and lived at 90 Park Avenue in Larchmont, New York.

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Further reading

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  • William Moulton Marston; and John Henry Feller; F.F. Proctor, Vaudeville Pioneer (1943)
  • Richard Butsch; The Making of American Audiences: From Stage to Television, 1750-1990 ISBN 0-521-66483-7
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