These pages are regularly updated, please select here to view the latest version.

tip: if copying and pasting an email address - remove the space

Older Items - Local History Group News - Charles Frohman

"Come Right In and I'll Make You A Star"

Caricature of Charles Frohman by Leonard Hamilton

Geoff Wood, who played a major role in the restoration of the Frohman Statue located on Marlow's Causeway, has written the following note which was included in the Society's Summer 13 Newsletter.

I found this striking caricature of Charles Frohman when visiting the V&A Theatre Museum Archive in West London some time ago. I have not been able to find out more about the cartoonist Leonard Hamilton or where it appeared, but my guess is that the cartoon appeared in Punch sometime between 1900 and 1915 when Frohman was drowned. These were the glory years when CF controlled 5 theatres in London, 6 in New York and over 200 in the rest of America. The caption is certainly a reference to his power and influence when he could make major stage stars of young actresses such as Maude Adams, Ethel Barrymore, Nina Boucicault and our own Pauline Chase. The caption is admirably short, witty and resonant to modern ears. What a pity it wasn't used on the memorial on The Causeway rather than the obscure and overly worthy translation of a Greek fragment that presumably seemed a good idea to an admirer in 1924 when the memorial was erected. The 100 year anniversary of CF's death on the Lusitania in May 1915 was commemorated in a special service at his memorial on The Causeway last year. If anybody wants to find out more about Frohman and his exciting life, please contact me via our website.