BP Schulberg

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BP Schulberg around 1914

Benjamin Percival "BP" Schulberg (born January 19, 1892 in Bridgeport , Connecticut , † February 25, 1957 in Key Biscayne , Florida ) was an American film producer .

Life

Schulberg was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1892. After attending City College in New York City , which he left without a degree, Schulberg worked from 1909 as a newspaper reporter for the New York Mail . Two years later, he was co-editor of Film Reports , a magazine for independent producers and film distributors. At 19, he moved to Hollywood and became a screenwriter and PR agent for Rex Films, a small film studio that was later bought by Universal Pictures . He then joined Adolph Zukor's production company Famous Players, the forerunner of Paramount Pictures , and founded his own company called BP Schulberg Productions in the early 1920s, which distributed its films through Famous Players and later through Paramount.

Schulberg was instrumental in Clara Bow's rise to one of the most popular box office stars. He produced some of their greatest hits, including the silent film comedy The Certain Something (1927) and William A. Wellman's war film Wings (1927), which won its first Oscar in 1929 for Best Picture . In 1928 Schulberg became Paramount's chief producer. In this role he helped Cary Grant , William Powell , Gary Cooper and Fredric March to fame. From 1931 he promoted the stage actress Sylvia Sidney in particular , to whom he gave many roles that were originally intended for Clara Bow, such as the female lead in Streets of the Big City (1931), a gangster film with Gary Cooper directed by Rouben Mamoulian . Schulberg went into business again in 1932 before returning to Paramount with his own B-film department. He later left the studio again and henceforth produced B-films for Columbia Pictures such as Meet Nero Wolfe with Edward Arnold . In 1943 he retired from the film business.

From his first marriage to Adeline Jaffe came his two sons, the producer Stuart Schulberg and the writer Budd Schulberg , who also worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood. From 1939 until his death, BP Schulberg was married to Helen McHale Keebler. He died in his Key Biscayne, Florida home in 1957 at the age of 65. He is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1500 Vine Street).

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William A. Wellman: The Man And His Wings . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, ISBN 0-275-98541-5 , p. 96.
  2. ^ Mary Melton: BP Schulberg . In: Los Angeles Times , February 27, 1957.
  3. ^ John Douglas Eames: The Paramount Story . Littlehampton Book Services Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-706-42057-8 , p. 77.
personal data
SURNAME Schulberg, BP
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schulberg, Benjamin Percival (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film producer
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Bridgeport , Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1957
Place of death Key Biscayne , Florida