Samuel F. Nirdlinger
| Samuel F. Nixon | |
|---|---|
1903 portrait (Associated Press)
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| Born |
Samuel Frederic Nirdlinger 13 October 1848 Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA |
| Died | 13 November 1918 (aged 70) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Theater owner |
| Known for | Theatrical Syndicate |
Samuel F. Nixon, born Samuel Frederic Nirdlinger (13 October 1848 – 13 November 1918) was an American theater owner. He was known as one of the organizers of the Theatrical Syndicate, which monopolized theatrical bookings in the United States for several years.
Samuel Frederic Nirdlinger was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on 13 October 1848. His parents were Frederic Nirdlinger and Hannah Meyerson. The Nirdlingers were of German Jewish origin. They had traveled by covered wagon from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to Fort Wayne, where they founded a frontier trading post. His father and uncle became clothiers. The Jews of Fort Wayne formed the Society for Visiting the Sick and Burying the Dead in 1848, with Frederic Nirdlinger as president. Nirdlinger's daughter Ella married Charles Naret Nathan. Their son was the drama critic George Jean Nathan, editor of The Smart Set and co-founder with H. L. Mencken of The American Mercury.
Samuel F. Nirdlinger first worked for the family business, then left to work for George K. Goodwin, a Philadelphia theater entrepreneur. Nirdlinger adopted the name of Samuel F. Nixon for business purposes. He became a partner of J. Fred Zimmerman, Sr. (1843–1925), an advance agent. They formed the Nixon & Zimmerman theatrical firm. The two started as lessees of theaters, and later became owners. Nirdlinger married Sallie Strauss. They had 2 children, Carrie Nixon Nirdlinger (1874–1970) and Fred G. Nixon-Nirdlinger (1877–1931).
George K. Goodwin died in the summer of 1881. Nixon and Zimmerman acquired the lease of the Walnut Street Theatre from his widow. Soon after she sold them the lease on the Chestnut Street Opera House. They already owned Haverly's, later called the Chestnut Street Theatre, and they now dominated the theater business in Philadelphia. By the mid-1990s Nixon and Zimmerman controlled the Broad, the Park, the Chestnut and the Chestnut Street Opera House, the four most important theaters in Philadelphia. They also owned first-class theaters in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.
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