Charles Klein

Born in London in 1867, he moved to the United States in the 1880s and first worked as an actor before shifting to writing for the stage. He became known as a prolific dramatist and collaborator, and also wrote the libretto for John Philip Sousa's operetta El Capitan.

His best-known plays include The Lion and the Mouse, The Third Degree, and The Music Master, works that helped make him a major figure in American commercial theater in the early twentieth century. His dramas often mixed strong emotion with timely public themes, which made them especially appealing to broad audiences.

He died in May 1915 in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. That abrupt ending, combined with the popularity of his plays, left him remembered as one of the successful theatrical voices of his period.