J. Arthur Rank
Joseph Arthur Rank (born December 22, 1888 in Kingston upon Hull , East Riding of Yorkshire , † March 29, 1972 in Winchester , Hampshire ) was a British film producer .
Life
The son of a flour mill entrepreneur joined his father's business at the age of seventeen. After a religious conversion, he founded the British National Film Company to produce films for Sunday school classes, which in 1935 produced the film The Turn of the Tide .
He soon expanded his activities to include film distribution and the production of film technology. With the architect Charles boat he built on the property Heath Hall earth the Pinewood Studios , which he headed, he also was the late 1930s, also head of Alexander Korda's Denham Film Studios . In the 1940s he was the UK's foremost film producer, working for such directors as Michael Powell , Emeric Pressburger , David Lean and Carol Reed .
After narrowly escaping bankruptcy in the 1940s, Rank had to give up Pinewood and Denham Studios. His rank organization , however, switched to radio production, as well as the operation of hotels and ballrooms, real estate trading and, together with the Xerox Corporation, the production and sale of copiers in Europe, Africa and Asia.
From 1952 to 1969, Rank ran the family business Ranks Hovis McDougall, Ltd. , in addition, he devoted himself to charitable activities. In 1953, he and his wife founded the J. Arthur Rank Group Charity (today: The Rank Foundation ).
Web links
- J. Arthur Rank in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- BritMovie - J. Arthur Rank
- Encyclopedia Britannica - J. Arthur Rank, Baron Rank
- History of the Rank Foundation
- Newspaper article about J. Arthur Rank in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Rank, J. Arthur |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rank, Joseph Arthur (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British film producer |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 22, 1888 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Kingston upon Hull , East Riding of Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom |
DATE OF DEATH | March 29, 1972 |
Place of death | Winchester , Hampshire, England, United Kingdom |