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Benjamin Franklin KeithAmerican vaudeville theater owner
Date of Birth: 26.01.1846
Country: ![]() |
Content:
- Biography of Benjamin Franklin Keith
- Early Life and Career
- Founding the Boston Bijou Theatre
- Expanding the Theater Empire
- Later Life and Legacy
Biography of Benjamin Franklin Keith
An American Vaudeville Theater OwnerBenjamin Franklin Keith was born on January 26, 1846, in Hillsboro Bridge, New Hampshire. He is best known for his significant role in the evolution of vaudeville theater into the popular form of entertainment known as vaudeville.

Early Life and Career
As a romantic by nature, Keith joined the circus after being inspired by a visit to the famous Van Amburg Circus. In the early 1860s, Keith worked at Bunnell's Museum in New York City before joining forces with American showman and businessman P.T. Barnum. He then went on to work with Adam Forepaugh's circus before opening an antique museum in Boston in 1883, together with Colonel William Austin.
Founding the Boston Bijou Theatre
In 1885, Keith became a partner of Edward Franklin Albee II, the father of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee. Together, they founded and managed the Boston Bijou Theatre, which offered continuous performances from 10 am to 11 pm every day, without intermissions. This format of entertainment became known as vaudeville.
Expanding the Theater Empire
Keith and Albee, who owned the Union Square Theatre, became the first to show films by the Lumière brothers in New York City on June 29, 1896. Building on their success, they acquired smaller theaters on the East Coast and Midwest to expand their vaudeville theater empire. In 1905, they signed a contract with Thomas Edison's Edison Studios, which supplied their theaters with the latest films. They further expanded their business by merging with Frederick Freeman Proctor's theater network in 1906.
Later Life and Legacy
Benjamin Franklin Keith retired in 1909 and remarried Ethel Bird Chase on October 28, 1913. He was 67 years old, while Ethel was 26. He passed away on March 26, 1914, at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. His son, Andrew Keith, continued his father's business but unfortunately died in 1918. Eventually, control of the company passed to Albee. In early 1928, Keith and Albee's network was consolidated into the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corp. The corporation, with a total seating capacity of 1,050,000, included vaudeville theaters and cinemas in the United States and Canada. The majority stake was acquired by financier Joseph Kennedy, father of future U.S. President John F. Kennedy.