Abraham Lincoln Erlanger, American Theatrical producer, large studio photographic portrait.
Washington Heights, NY: Rockwood, (1917). Photograph. Abraham Lincoln Erlanger (May 4, 1859 – March 7, 1930) was an American theatrical producer, director, designer, theater owner, and a leading figure of the Theatrical Syndicate. This studio portrait by Rockwood is inscribed by him "To my friend Dick A. L. Erlanger" and "Started 1897 and now its Jan 1st 1917".
Erlanger was born to a German Jewish family in Buffalo, New York. Erlanger and his partner, Kentucky lawyer Marc Klaw, started out as a theatrical booking agency in New York City in 1888...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. Erlanger's cold disdain and ruthless tactics helped bring about his own downfall. He made a bitter enemy of the Shubert brothers after Sam Shubert died in a train wreck in 1905, when he is said to have refused to abide by any legal agreements "with a dead man." The enraged Shubert brothers Lee and Jacob began an all out campaign to wrestle power in the industry away from the Theatrical Syndicate... 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. (Wikipedia)
Image 13 x 8 1/2" on stamped mount 19 3/4 x 15 3/4". Photograph in good condition, with one small spot upper left and a signature erased in the bottom left. Mat marked & dusty with some smudges and some light damp marking around an edge. The verso of the heavy board is heavily scored, not affecting the image or the front of the mat. Good + overall. Item #27370
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