Laemmle, Carl, Sr.

Laemmle, Carl, Sr.

(1867–1939) motion picture producer; born in Laupheim, Germany. He emigrated to New York City in 1884 and held various jobs until 1906, when he opened a nickelodeon in Chicago. He soon became a leading film distributor and founded his own studio (1909) in defiance of the powerful Motion Picture Patents Company trust; his Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP) acquired smaller companies to form the Universal Film Manufacturing Company in 1912. He was one of the most aggressive of the early movie producers, luring stars away from other companies, heavily publicizing them, and showing that feature length and sensational movies could be profitable. He appointed some 70 relatives to executive posts at Universal, including his son, Carl Laemmle Jr., who became production chief at age 21; he also hired the 19-year-old Irving Thalberg, son of a friend, and soon entrusted him with running Universal's production studios in Hollywood. By 1935, Laemmle was forced to sell Universal, due to a combination of the Depression and his son's extravagances.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.