DANIEL FROHMAN - AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED 05/03/1935 - HFSID 321148

DANIEL FROHMAN
Actor company founder and producer writes the first line from The Declaration of Independence, signs name and date underneath
Autograph Note Signed: "Daniel Frohman" in brown ink. 1 page, 8¼x5½. Written on personal Lyceum Theatre letterhead. May 3, 1935. New York City, New York. In full: "When in the course of human events, it became necessary for one nation to dissolve the political bands which have bound it to another, and, to assume _____". This is an incorrect quote from the first sentence of The Declaration of Independence. Daniel Frohman (1851-1940), with his brothers Charles and Gustave Frohman, created a system of road companies to tour the country with plays created - and often running simultaneously - in New York. Daniel personally managed the old and new Lyceum Theatres, and the Lyceum Stock Company, and produced hit plays like The Count of Monte Cristo, The Days of Days and The Witching Hour. After brother Charles died aboard the Lusitania (torpedoed by a German sub in 1915), he managed his brothers' theatre stars. Daniel Frohman also entered the new motion picture industry, partnering with Adolph Zukor in the Famous Players Film Company and helping to produce more than 70 movies. Frohman was the longtime President of the Actors Fund. As this letter shows, there were indeed seven Frohman siblings, three brothers and four sisters, born to Henry and Babette Frohman, Jewish immigrants from Germany. Normal mailing folds. Very toned. Edges and corners worn. Light stains in top and bottom margin. Ink and pencil notes on verso in unknown hand. Otherwise, fine condition.