biography
| name: |
Mayer, Louis B(urt)
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| |
originally Eliezer Mayer
|
pronunciation:
[mayer]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1885–1957)
|
| biography:
| Film mogul, born in Minsk, Belarus. In 1907 he purchased a house in Haverhill, MA, refurbished it as a nickelodeon, and opened one of the earliest custom-designed cinemas. He later acquired a chain of theatres in New England, moving into film production with the formation of Metro Films (1915) and Louis B Mayer Productions (1917), which later joined with Sam Goldwyn to form Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer in 1924. The first vice-president in charge of production, he was instrumental in the creation of Hollywood as a dream factory and the establishment of the star system, with such successes as Ben Hur (1926), Grand Hotel (1932), the Andy Hardy series, Ninotchka (1939), and countless others. He received an honorary Academy Award in 1950. |
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