Toberman was born on February 23, 1880, in
Seymour, Texas, to Philip and Lucy Ann Toberman; his uncle was Los Angeles mayor
James R. Toberman. He attended the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas for three years and Metropolitan Business College at Dallas for one year. Toberman began his career as a
stenographer, working in
Dallas and
Wichita Falls, Texas, before moving to
Los Angeles in 1902. He returned to Wichita Falls and ran a hardware store before returning to Los Angeles, where he held a variety of positions including
City Treasurer of
Hollywood. He worked in real estate from 1907 on, incorporating the C.E. Toberman Company in 1912. Mr. Toberman placed fifty-three Hollywood subdivisions on the market, formed more than thirty companies and organizations, built twenty-nine commercial buildings in Hollywood, including the world-famous Chinese Theater and was affiliated with forty-nine clubs, civic, and fraternal organizations up until retirement. Toberman managed all of his real estate holdings from his office in the heart of Hollywood. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Toberman developed many notable buildings and neighborhoods in Hollywood, including notable theatres with showman
Sid Grauman. In 1924, he built a
Spanish-style mansion known as the
C.E. Toberman Estate. He co-founded the
Black-Foxe Military Institute in 1928. He died in Hollywood of complications of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 101 According to a 1990 article in the
Los Angeles Times, Toberman was known as "Mr. Hollywood" and the "Father of Hollywood" because of his development of the
Hollywood Hills. ==Personal life==