In one of the most famous fires in Chicago's history, a packed house waited to see America's favorite comedian, Eddie Foy, star in the comedy "Mr. Bluebeard" at the Iroquois Theatre on December 30, 1903.
Touted as being "completely fireproof," the Iroquois had opened earlier that year and a crowd estimated at 1,700 was there for a Christmas week matinee. The audience watched the second act curtain rise and, as an arc light shorted, ignite.
In minutes, the scenery was aflame, even as Foy ordered the orchestra to strike up a tune and shouted to the crowd, "Please be quiet. There is no danger."
But soon the theater was roaring with flames. Men, women and children howled as they rushed to the exits, many of which were locked.
Some people died from the fire itself, others were trampled and smothered to death. More than 600 were killed, hundreds more injured.
The exterior of the Iroquois was largely intact and later reopened as the Colonial Theater, which was demolished in 1925 to make way for the Oriental Theater. The Iroquois Theatre fire was and remains the deadliest theater fire and the deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history.
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