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Jack Warner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jack Warner | |
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| Born | August 2, 1892 London, Ontario |
| Died | September 9, 1978 (aged 86) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California |
| Known for | Warner Brothers Studios |
- This article is about Jack Warner, the head of Warner Brothers. For other people named Jack Warner, see Jack Warner (disambiguation).
Jack Leonard "J.L." Warner (August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978), born Itzhak Eichelbaum in London, Ontario, Canada of a Polish-Jewish family, was the president and driving force behind the highly successful development of Warner Brothers Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
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The other Warner brothers were Harry Warner (1881–1958), Albert Warner (1883–1967), and Sam Warner (1887–1927), members of a Yiddish-speaking Jewish family from Krasnosielc, Poland. A cobbler named Benjamin Warner (probably Varna), had married Pearl Leah Eichelbaum in 1876. The couple had three children, one of whom died at age four. Desiring a better future for his family and himself, in 1883 Benjamin made his way to Hamburg, Germany, and then took a ship to America.[1] The two surviving children, Hirsch (later Harry) and Anna, and wife Pearl joined him in Baltimore less than a year later. The rest of the Warner brothers (and two sisters) were born in the United States, except for Jacob (later Jack), who was born in London, Ontario, Canada, in 1892.
After two arduous years in Canada, Benjamin Warner and his family made the long trek back to Baltimore.[2] In 1896, the family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, following the lead of Harry Warner, who established a shoe repair shop in the heart of the emerging industrial town.[3] Jack Warner, who spent much of his youth in Youngstown, indicated in his autobiography that his experiences there shaped his early sensibilities. Warner wrote: "J. Edgar Hoover told me that Youngstown in those days was one of the toughest cities in America, and a gathering place for Sicilian thugs active in the Mafia. There was a murder or two almost every Saturday night in our neighborhood, and knives and brass knuckles were standard equipment for the young hotheads on the prowl".[4]
In Youngstown, the Warner brothers made their momentous leap into the movie business, albeit in a limited manner. In the early 1900s, Sam Warner took a job as a projectionist at Idora Park, a local amusement park.[5] He quickly persuaded the family of the new medium's possibilities and arranged the purchase of a Model B Kinetoscope from a projectionist who was "down on his luck".[6] The enterprising brothers screened a well-used copy of The Great Train Robbery throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania before seizing the chance to purchase a small theater in 1906.[7] That year, the brothers purchased the Cascade movie palace in New Castle, Pennsylvania, a business they maintained until moving into film distribution in 1907.[8] The Warner brothers established the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement Company, which proved lucrative until the advent of the Motion Pictures Patent Company, which charged distributors exorbitant fees.[9]
In 1910, the Warner brothers pooled their resources and moved into film production.[10] When Warner Bros. was formed in 1918, Jack became co-head of production along with elder brother Sam.[11] Sam died in 1927 (just before the premiere of the first "talking" picture, The Jazz Singer), and Jack became sole head of production.[12] He ran Warners' Burbank studio with an iron hand. Devastated by his brother's death, he became increasingly difficult to deal with and earned the hatred of many of his employees.[13]. Meanwhile, Jack earned a reputation as a womanizer.[14].
In 1956, Jack, Harry and Al announced they were putting Warner Bros. on the market. Jack secretly put together a syndicate that bought control of the company. By the time Harry and Al learned of their brother's dealings, it was too late. The three brothers had gotten into numerous arguments over the past decades-especially Jack and Harry, who once chased Jack with a 2X4 throughout the Warner Bros. Studio, threatening to kill him[15]-, but this subterfuge was too much even for Harry and Al; they never spoke to Jack again.
Comedian Jack Benny, who once worked at Warner Brothers, quipped, "Jack Warner would rather tell a bad joke than make a good movie."[16]
Jack was the second chief to also serve as company president, after Columbia Pictures' Harry Cohn, but could not keep up with changes in the industry. He sold the studio to Seven Arts Productions in 1967, after producing the film adaptation of Lerner & Loewe's Camelot, but remained active as an independent producer until the early 1970s. Among his last productions was another film adaptation of a Broadway musical, 1776.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Jack Warner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6541 Hollywood Blvd. He also has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto, which honors outstanding Canadians from all fields.
- See also: Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood
- ^ Warner, Jack (1964). My First Hundred Years in Hollywood. New York: Random Books, p. 18.
- ^ Idib at p. 23-24.
- ^ Ibid at p. 24-25.
- ^ Ibid at p. 29.
- ^ Ibid at p. 49.
- ^ Ibid at p. 50.
- ^ Ibid at p. 54-55.
- ^ Ibid at p. 55-57.
- ^ Ibid at p. 65-66.
- ^ Ibid at p. 73.
- ^ Ibid at p. 100-101.
- ^ Ibid at p. 180-181.
- ^ [[1]]
- ^ [[2]]
- ^ [[3]]
- ^ Here's Looking at You, Warner Brothers documentary, Turner Classic Movies.
Categories: 1892 births | 1978 deaths | Canadian Jews | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders | American film studio executives | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Canada's Walk of Fame | American Jews | People from London, Ontario | People from Youngstown, Ohio | University of Southern California alumni | Jewish businesspeople