Theatrical entrepreneur. He began as an advance agent for theatrical bookings, and went into business with Samuel F. Nixon-Nirdlinger in Philadelphia. In 1896, they, along with Alf Hayman of San Francisco, Marc Klaw, Abraham L. Erlanger, and Charles Frohman of New York, formed The Theatrical Syndicate. The syndicate gave them a monopoly on theatrical bookings of road companies throughout the United States. By the 1900s they managed over six hundred first-class theaters coast-to-coast. The power of the Syndicate was so restrictive that it eventually brought about the unionization of actors in the legitimate theater; however, that power was finally broken by Philadelphia's Schubert brothers in the 1910s. Along with other Philadelphia businessmen, Zimmerman helped raise money for survivors of the Johnstown Flood. He also served as a director of the Edwin Forest Home for retired actors.
Theatrical entrepreneur. He began as an advance agent for theatrical bookings, and went into business with Samuel F. Nixon-Nirdlinger in Philadelphia. In 1896, they, along with Alf Hayman of San Francisco, Marc Klaw, Abraham L. Erlanger, and Charles Frohman of New York, formed The Theatrical Syndicate. The syndicate gave them a monopoly on theatrical bookings of road companies throughout the United States. By the 1900s they managed over six hundred first-class theaters coast-to-coast. The power of the Syndicate was so restrictive that it eventually brought about the unionization of actors in the legitimate theater; however, that power was finally broken by Philadelphia's Schubert brothers in the 1910s. Along with other Philadelphia businessmen, Zimmerman helped raise money for survivors of the Johnstown Flood. He also served as a director of the Edwin Forest Home for retired actors.
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