Louis B. Mayer

Louis Burt Mayer (* supposedly July 4, 1885 in Minsk, Belarus, † October 29, 1957 in Los Angeles, California; actually Lazar Mayer or Eliezer Meir ) was an American film producer. Mayer led for decades the movie company Metro -Goldwyn- Mayer, MGM abbreviated.

Life

Louis B. Mayer's exact birth date is unknown. He himself has put it on the momentous day patriotic 4th of July, American Independence Day. The family emigrated to Canada around 1888. Mayer quickly realized the financial potential of the Nickelodeon 1907 and opened his first movie theater. Within a few years he owned 90 percent of all movie theaters in the New England states and earned a fortune in 1915 with the exclusive rental rights for The Birth of a Nation, the hitherto most financially successful film. In 1916 he founded, together with Richard A. Rowland, the Metro Pictures Corporation, based in New York. In 1918 he went with the company for fear of the Edison Trust to Hollywood. Mayer announced Rowland in the same year the partnership and persuaded looking for an audience-grabbing star already known actress Anita Stewart to leave their previous studio Vitagraph and to work for the newly founded Louis B. Mayer Pictures. 1924 Marcus Loew took Mayer to head the new company Metro -Goldwyn -Mayer, which was known by the acronym MGM. In 1925, Mayer produced his most successful film Ben Hur. As a studio boss Louis B. Mayer built MGM with the most financially successful film studio in the world. His successful business policy was instrumental in that MGM only one of the major film studios, even during the Great Depression of the 1930s, wrote no losses. Among the actors who worked under his leadership for MGM, included, among other Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Jean Harlow, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr and Ava Gardner.

Mayer wanted not only successful, but also valuable films, so-called " healthy entertainment," the fear of God, patriotism, and family values ​​mediated, but otherwise invited to escapism. He regularly came therefore with production manager Irving Thalberg each other, the preferred demanding and critical literary adaptations. 1932 finally pushed Mayer Thalberg out of business, while just recovered from a heart attack. After an interval in which Mayer always busy new production manager, he took over in 1936 the post itself, so he became the first president of the United States of America Group, which had a six figure income. Mayer enjoyed a reputation as a ruthless businessman, strictly led his studio. Legendary were his tears outbreaks if he wanted to impose his own will on recalcitrant Stars. Some actors like Greta Garbo or Esther Williams appeared unimpressed by Mayer and won several battles with the studio boss for more money and better working conditions .. David O. Selznick, who was married to Mayer's daughter Irene, worked from 1933 to 1935 at MGM, decided However, in 1936, to start his own film company Selznick International.

In 1948, on the initiative of Nicholas Schenck, president of MGM's parent company, Loews, Inc., Dore Schary new production manager of MGM. 1951 Dore Shary Mayer eventually replaced after 27 years in his role in the operational management of MGM.

Mayer was an active supporter of the Republican Party. He supported particularly Herbert Hoover and later Senator Joseph McCarthy. From 1931 to 1932 he was Vice- Chairman of the Party in California, 1932-1933 chairman. In 1934 he fought Upton Sinclair's bid for the office of California governor.

Louis B. Mayer's last words were reportedly: "Nothing is more important."

Mayer, one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars every year, was honored with an honorary Academy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Time magazine voted him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Mayer was usually shown or mentioned, including Aviator satirically distorted in a number of movies, The Holiday and Barton Fink.

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