The death of Charles Frohman and an appearance of his ghost

This building at the top of the square, called the Arch Building, is now the Cobh Library, but was the Town Hall at the time of the Lusitania sinking. It was used as a temporary morgue. Here was brought the body of Charles Frohman, the Theatre impresario. The Arch Building was constructed in 1806 as the Market House, by Mr J. Smith Barry of Fota estate - see Columbine Quay. In the 1850's the square was added by Mr Phillip Scott, shipping agent and father of James Scott.

At one time, or other, the Charles Frohman Stock Company controlled many of the more important stage actors and actresses, including names such as Dame Ellen Terry, Louie Pounds, John Drew, Maude Adams, Otis Skinner, Ethyl Barrymore and Billie Burke. Moreover, Frohman helped form the Theatrical Trust, a syndicate (which would nowadays be called a monopoly) which controlled nearly 40 important theatres in the USA before the turn of the century. A workaholic, he suffered from rheumatism at the time of the Lusitania sinking which had its origins in a fall a few years earlier. His trademarks were a walking cane on which he relied for support and a briefcase filled with theatrical scripts.

Neither an actor, nor a scriptwriter himself, he had the ability to assess both actors and scripts with unerring accuracy and to promote the more promising ones successfully.

Also on board the Lusitania and traveling First Class were the actresses Rita Jolivet and Josephine Brandell, together with Rita's brother-in-law, George Vernon. The story of Frohman's final words "Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure in life" is that Frohman, Rita Jolivet, George Vernon and a Capt Alick J Scott (a soldier returning from India) had found themselves on the starboard boat deck as the ship was about the sink. Frohman's arthritic leg denied him the mobility necessary to try for one of the lifeboats which were being launched nearby. In any event, he seemed not to have much interest in doing so.

To the credit of Jolivet, Vernon & Scott, rather than abandon the impresario, they stood arm-in-arm awaiting the onrush of water. In particular, Rita Jolivet could quite legitimately have sought a place in a lifeboat. Just before the advancing water forced the little group apart, Frohman uttered the amazing epithet. Was Frohman influenced by a contemporary, the actor Laurence Irving, who died in the sinking of the Empress of Ireland in May 1914? Is it mere coincidence that the closing line of Irving's play, Typhoon, is "What is death? Death is nothing but the passing to another life"? Frohman's body was identified in Queenstown and was shipped home to New York, where the burial took place on May 25. George Vernon was interred in the Old Church Cemetery, Queenstown (Row 20, No 6). Tragically, his wife Inez H Vernon (nee Jolivet), committed suicide in 1916 and her ashes were brought to Cobh and interred with her husband. The body of Capt Scott was not recovered. Rita Jolivet subsequently turned her attention to silent film, including "Lest We Forget" (1918), which dealt with WW1 and included the Lusitania incident. She died in Barcelona, Spain, in 1962.

A chilling footnote to the story of Charles Frohman is recounted by Titanic historian, George Behe. After one of Frohman's office staff had seen him off on the Lusitania, he returned to the Empire Theatre in New York. While inspecting the building prior to closure that evening, he happened to check Frohman's office. He was astonished to find Frohman sitting at his desk, illuminated only by the desk lamp. The desk was covered with the memorabilia of a lifetime in theatre. Frohman spoke to him quietly intimating that he should be left alone in his office and that he could not be helped. When the attendant returned shortly afterwards, accompanied by a group of incredulous theatre workers, the office was dark and empty and everything was in its proper place!

More information

“What is certain is that Frohman's death had a dampening effect on Adams' enthusiasm for the stage, and when her grandmother died that same year, and her mother the following year, her appearances became more sporadic, and by 1918 she retired from the stage, still a star and a dazzling beauty. ... Her aloofness and the absence of any known romances have fed rumors and legends of both lesbianism and some lost great love...” (Outcyclopedia, the free and queer encyclopedia.)

“Maude Adams was told upon reaching the Grand Theater in Kansas City for her matinee of Quality Street. She collapsed, Preparations were made to cancel the performance, but Miss Adams told the management that she would go on. She did go on, with her eyes puffed and tear-stained, and her voice broke frequently in her opening scenes, but she got threw. Her road manager received the Kansas City press, which suddenly besieged the theater, and spoke for her. No, Miss Adams could not be seen. Yes, she would continue her Western tour, for the time being. No-and the newsmen had withheld this question to the end-Miss Adams had not married Mr. Frohman. 'He was not her husband,' said the road manager, and his own voice was now breaking, 'but he was the greatest friend of her life.' Matinee Tomorrow: Fifty Years of Our Theater, Ward Morehouse, 1949