Martin Beck (July 31, 1868 â€" November 16, 1940) was a vaudeville
theatre owner and manager, and theatrical booking agent, who founded
the Orpheum Circuit, and built the Palace and Martin Beck Theatres in
New York City's Broadway Theatre District. He was a booking agent for,
and became a close personal friend of the prominent magician, Harry
Houdini.Martin Beck was born to a Jewish family on July 31, 1868, in
Liptovský Mikuláš, a town in northern Slovakia that at the time of
his birth was ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He went with a
group of actors on the SS Elbe from Bremen, Germany, to the United
States in May 1884, where he worked as a waiter in a beer garden in
Chicago, Illinois.He went to San Francisco with the Schiller
Vaudeville Company, then gained citizenship in the United States in
October 1889. When the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco was bought by
Morris Meyerfeld Jr. in 1899, he worked with Morris to acquire more
theaters. By 1905, Beck was running the organization.In 1910 he formed
the United Booking Offices with Alfred Butt.
theatre owner and manager, and theatrical booking agent, who founded
the Orpheum Circuit, and built the Palace and Martin Beck Theatres in
New York City's Broadway Theatre District. He was a booking agent for,
and became a close personal friend of the prominent magician, Harry
Houdini.Martin Beck was born to a Jewish family on July 31, 1868, in
Liptovský Mikuláš, a town in northern Slovakia that at the time of
his birth was ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He went with a
group of actors on the SS Elbe from Bremen, Germany, to the United
States in May 1884, where he worked as a waiter in a beer garden in
Chicago, Illinois.He went to San Francisco with the Schiller
Vaudeville Company, then gained citizenship in the United States in
October 1889. When the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco was bought by
Morris Meyerfeld Jr. in 1899, he worked with Morris to acquire more
theaters. By 1905, Beck was running the organization.In 1910 he formed
the United Booking Offices with Alfred Butt.
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