Benjamin Franklin Keith

[5] The theater hosted a variety of events, but vaudeville was the most popular and eventually replaced the museum.

[7] The theatre was one of the early adopters of the continuous variety show which ran from 10:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night, every day.

[7] In 1906, Keith merged his New York and New Jersey theatres with Frederick Freeman Proctor, but dissolved the partnership five years later.

[9][10] On February 11, 1907, Keith and Proctor formed the United Booking Office of America with New York theater owners Percy G. Williams and Oscar Hammerstein.

[11] In 1909, Keith, Proctor, Williams, and Hammerstein formed the United Theatres Securities Co. with fellow theater owners Harry Davis of Pittsburgh, Michael Shea of Toronto, P. B.

[14] In 1912, Keith purchased Williams's eight New York City theaters (Bronx, Greenpoint, Gotham, Crescent, Bushwick, Colonial, Orpheum, and Alhambra).

[15] Albee and Keith operated the Union Square Theatre in New York City, and it was the site of the first American exhibition of the Lumière Cinématographe.

They had obtained the exclusive American rights to the Lumière apparatus and their film output, and the first showing was on June 29, 1896.

His son, A. Paul Keith died without an heir and left the family money to Cardinal William O'Connell.

Keith Memorial Theatre, Boston (built 1928)
Keith's advertising wagon, ca.1894