Referred to as both Mark and Marc, he was born in
Paducah, Kentucky, the child of
Jewish immigrants from Germany. He studied law at
Louisville Law School, graduating in 1879. He established a law practice in
Louisville, and worked as a part-time drama critic. In 1881 he moved to New York City to work on legal issues regarding the theater for theater executive
Gustave Frohman. Klaw was drawn to the theater business, and for several years was a manager of tours. He formed a partnership with
A. L. "Abe" Erlanger that started as a theatrical booking agency in
New York City in 1888. Operating as "
Klaw & Erlanger" they expanded their business through the acquisition and construction of theaters, to the point where they controlled most of the theaters in the
U.S. South and several major locations in New York. Among their holdings were they owned "Klaw and Erlanger's Costume Company" and the "Klaw & Erlanger Opera Company." By 1895 Klaw & Erlanger were the second largest booking company in the US. In 1896, Klaw & Erlanger joined with
Al Hayman,
Charles Frohman,
Samuel F. Nixon, and
J. Fred Zimmerman to form the "Theatrical Syndicate". Their organization established systemized booking networks throughout the US and created a monopoly that controlled every aspect of contracts and bookings until the late 1910s when the
Shubert brothers broke their hold on the industry. , England, photographed in 2014. The date of birth is inscribed as 1859 Despite being nearly universally despised in the industry for their ruthless tactics, Klaw and Erlanger produced dozens of
Broadway plays and financed many others including the early editions of the
Ziegfeld Follies. The partnership of Klaw & Erlanger was hurt as a result of the
Actors' Equity strike of 1919. The partnership ended in 1919, and the last Broadway production by "Klaw and Erlanger" was in 1919 (
The Velvet Lady). After that, Klaw built the
Klaw Theatre and produced plays until his retirement in 1927. ==Later years==