Thomas White Lamb (May 5, 1870 – February 26, 1942) was an American architect. He was one of the foremost designers oftheaters andcinemas of the 20th century.
Born inDundee, Scotland, United Kingdom, Thomas W. Lamb came to the United States at the age of 12. He studied architecture atCooper Union in New York and initially worked for the City of New York as an inspector. His architecture firm, Thomas W. Lamb, Inc., was located at 36 West 40th Street in Manhattan, New York.[1]
Lamb achieved recognition as one of the leading architects of the boom inmovie theater construction of the 1910s and 1920s.[2] Particularly associated with theFox Theatres,Loew's Theatres andKeith-Albee chains of vaudeville and film theaters, Lamb was instrumental in establishing and developing the design and construction of the large, lavishly decorated theaters, known as "movie palaces", as showcases for the films of the emerging Hollywood studios.[citation needed]
Among his most notable theaters are the 1929Fox Theatre in San Francisco and the 1919Capitol Theatre in New York, both now demolished. Among his most noted designs that have been preserved and restored are the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre in Boston (1928) (now theBoston Opera House),Warner's Hollywood Theatre (1930) in New York (now theTimes Square Church), theHippodrome Theatre (1914) in Baltimore, and theLoew's Ohio Theatre (1928) in Columbus, Ohio. Among Lamb's existing Canadian theaters are the Pantages Theatre in Toronto (1920) (now theEd Mirvish Theatre).[4] andElgin and Winter Garden Theatres. The Cinema Treasures website, which documents the history of film theaters, lists 174 theaters designed by Lamb's company.
During the last ten years of his practice, Lamb's associate was the architect John J. McNamara.[5] After Lamb's death, McNamara continued as an architect of theaters under his own name. McNamara was responsible for renovating some of Lamb's older New York theaters, and among his original designs was one for the 1969Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan, which replaced Lamb's original building.
The Sanderson Centre, Brantford, Ontario, 1919; auditorium restored in 1990, currently a performing arts centre
Capitol Theatre, Hamilton, Ontario, 1920; 103 King Street East, Hamilton all but lobby demolished in 1973;[13] remaining portion of theatre now operating as Escape Manor Inc.
In 1920, Lamb designed for himself a private summer home in theAdirondacks in the village ofElizabethtown, New York. The house, which is still extant as a residence, is situated on theBoquet River. The eight-bedroom manor, referred to today as Cobble Mountain Lodge, is a shingle and cobble stone design marked by the inclusion of a stone turret.
^"Archived copy". Archived fromthe original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved2011-03-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Ontario Heritage Trust Loew's Yonge Street and Winter Garden Theatres
![Pitkin, Brooklyn, 1928 (2010)[6]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aLoews_Pitkin_jeh.JPG)
![Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres double-decker vaudeville theatres Toronto, Ontario 1913-1914[12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aElgin_and_Wintergarden.JPG)
