Charles Klein

Klein was born in London, England on January 7, 1867 to Hermann Klein and his wife Adelaide (née Soman). Apparently, the elder Klein emigrated from Riga, Latvia. Once in Norwich, Hermann became a professor of foreign languages at the King Edward VI Grammar School, and Adelaide taught dance. Klein moved to New York City in 1883 and began his theatrical career by appearing in Little Lord Fauntleroy and other juvenile roles.  Klein first wrote for the theater in 1890, and in 1895 he wrote the libretto of John Philip Sousa's best remembered operetta, El Capitan, which continues to be revived occasionally.  Klein's melodramas were among the most successful of the first decade of the twentieth century, primarily because of their focus on themes of contemporary life in the United States. In The Auctioneer(1901) and The Music Master (1904), actor David Warfield had great successes. Klein's best-regarded drama, The Lion and the Mouse (1905), was prompted by a visit to the U.S. Senate.[5] The story concerns a young woman taking on a powerful business tycoon. One of the corporate figures in the play was made to look like one of John D. Rockefeller's partner H. H. Rogers.  Klein died during the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, at the age of 48.