Jesse L. Lasky

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Jesse L. Lasky

Jesse Louis Lasky (born September 13, 1880 in San Francisco , California , USA , † January 13, 1958 in Hollywood , California, USA ) was an American film producer.

Career

He began his career in the entertainment industry with the vaudeville theater. His sister Blanche married Samuel Goldwyn and in 1913 he founded the film production company Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company with his brother-in-law and with Cecil B. DeMille . With little money, they rented a barn and created the film The Squaw Man in 1914 , which is now the Paramount's first film .

Publicity photo of the founding of Paramount in 1916
(from left to right) Jesse L. Lasky , Adolph Zukor , Samuel Goldwyn , Cecil B. DeMille , Al Kaufman

In 1916 the film company merged with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company to form the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and they built a large studio site in Astoria near Manhattan . She also became the majority shareholder in William Wadsworth Hodkinson's Paramount Pictures .

In 1927, Jesse L. Lasky was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . With the Depression in the early 1930s, the Famous Players-Lasky Company got into financial difficulties. Jesse L. Lasky became a partner with Mary Pickford and they produced films for a number of years until Pickford broke up the relationship. Lasky found a producer job in a large studio until he re-founded his own production company in 1945. His last film production dates back to 1951. In 1957 he published his autobiography I Blow My Own Horn .

Jesse L. Lasky's son Jesse Lasky, Jr. (1908–1988) became a successful (screenwriter) writer.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6433 Hollywood Blvd. for his contribution to the US film industry . Lasky Drive in Beverly Hills , California was named after him.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lasky, Jesse L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lasky, Jesse Louis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film producer
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH San Francisco , California , USA
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 1958
Place of death Hollywood , California , USA