B. Marcus Priteca

Who was B. Marcus Priteca?

Benjamin Marcus Priteca was born in Glasgow, Scotland. A theater architect, he is best known for his work for Alexander Pantages. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1907 and later attended the Royal College of Art. He served a brief apprenticeship under architect Robert MacFarlane Cameron, in Edinburgh, before emigrating to the United States, where he settled in Seattle, Washington, in 1909.

Priteca met Seattle vaudeville theatre owner Alexander Pantages in 1910 and won from him a commission to design the San Francisco Pantages Theater, the first of many so-named vaudeville and motion picture houses in what would become one of the largest theater chains in North America.

In all, Priteca designed 22 theaters for Pantages and another 128 for other theater owners. Notable theaters include the Coliseum in Seattle; the Pantages in Tacoma, Washington; the Pantages in Los Angeles; the Pantages in San Diego; the Pantages in Fresno, California; the Paramount in Seattle; the Pantages in Hollywood; the Warner on Pacific Boulevard in Huntington Park; and the Admiral in West Seattle.