Victor Mapes (10 March 1870 – 27 September 1943) was an American playwright, stage manager and director.

He attended Columbia University, where he proved an excellent athlete and graduated in 1891 at the head of his class.

He became a journalist, and the next year spent time in Paris, France, where he studied drama at the Sorbonne.

[1] After returning to the USA Mapes became stage manager at the Lyceum Theatre in New York for Daniel Frohman in 1897.

The theater was founded by a group of leading Chicago citizens with the aim of producing worthwhile plays for limited runs without elaborate scenery or costumes, and without promoting stars.