E. F. Albee

Edward Franklin Albee II (October 8, 1857 – March 11, 1930) was an American vaudeville impresario.

Early life Albee was born on October 8, 1857, in Machias, Maine, to Nathaniel Smith Albee and Amanda Higgins Crocker.

Career

He toured with P. T. Barnum as a roustabout, then, in 1885, he partnered with Benjamin Franklin Keith in operating the Bijou Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. With the success of their business, it grew into the Keith-Albee theatre circuit of vaudeville theatres. Albee gradually took managerial control of Keith's theatrical circuit. They were the first to introduce moving pictures in the United States.

They did not invite Frederick Freeman Proctor, Keith's main competitor, but the other managers objected and insisted on a meeting in New York where Proctor was invited. The Vaudeville Managers Association (VMA) was founded at the New York meeting. Keith and Albee dominated the new organization. ) of the National Vaudeville Artists.

His partner, Benjamin Franklin Keith, died in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1914.

He formed the Keith-Albee-Orpheum corporation on January 28, 1928, with Joseph P. Kennedy. Radio Corporation of America bought his company and formed RKO Pictures ("Radio-Keith-Orpheum") and turned the Orpheum vaudeville circuit into a chain of movie theaters.

Anecdotes Many entertainers considered Albee's tactics tyrannical. Groucho Marx referred to the United Bookings Office as "Albee's Gestapo".

Joe Frisco summed up the impression of power Albee made; exiting Albee's office into a street under construction, his agent wondered why the street was being torn up and Frisco quipped, "Albee's kid lost his ball." Ethel Keith Albee (1890–1976), who married Edwin George Lauder Jr. (1883–1955) in 1914. They divorced in 1941.

On March 11, 1930, Albee died at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.

Descendants His grandson was Edward Albee, the playwright, who was adopted by his son, Reed.