Albert Warner

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Albert Warner (nicknamed "Abe")[1] (July 23, 1884[2] – November 26, 1967), was one of the founders of Warner Bros. Studios. He established the enormously successful production studio with his brothers Harry, Sam, and Jack Warner.

Contents

[edit] Early Years

Albert Warner was born in Baltimore, Maryland, into a Yiddish-speaking family of Jewish immigrants from Poland.[3] Albert was the second surviving son of Benjamin Warner,(whose original last name is not known)[4] a cobbler from Krasnosielc, Poland, and his wife, the former Pearl Leah Eichelbaum. Following their marriage in 1876, the couple had three children in Poland, one of whom died at a young age.[5] In search of a better future for his family and himself, in 1883 Benjamin made his way to Hamburg, Germany, and then took a ship to America.[6] upon arriving in America, Benjamin introduced himself as "Benjamin Warner."[7] Pearl Warner and the couple's two surviving children, including Hirsch (later Harry), joined him in Baltimore, Maryland less than a year later.[8] In Baltimore, the couple had five more children, including Albert and Sam Warner.[8]

Benjamin Warner's decision to move to Canada was inspired by a friend's advice that he could make an excellent living bartering tin wares with trappers in exchange for furs.[9] In Canada, two more children were born, including Jack.[9] After two arduous years in Canada, Benjamin and Pearl Warner returned to Baltimore, bringing along their growing family.[10] In 1896, the Warners relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, following the lead of Harry Warner, who established a shoe repair shop in the heart of the emerging industrial town.[11] Benjamin Warner worked with his son, Harry, in the shoe repair shop, until he secured a loan to open a meat counter and grocery store in the city's downtown area.[12] During this period, "two more children were added to the cramped quarters" of the Warner household.[13]

Albert stayed in school longer than any his three brothers.[14] In 1900, Albert entered Youngstown's Rayen High School,[14] where he served as quarterback for the school's football team.[14] Albert eventually dropped out,[14] and eventually got a job in Chicago as a salesman for the soap company Swift and Company.[14]

As a young man, along with his brother Sam, Albert Warner entered the nickelodeon business , and displayed films from a Kinetoscope at carvinals in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1903;[15] Sam ran the projector and Albert sold tickets.[15] In 1905, Harry agreed to join his two brothers' business and sold his Youngstown bicycle shop.[16]. During this time, the three brothers purchased a building in New Castle, Pennsylvania;[17] with their new building, the brothers established their first theater, The Cascade Movie Palace.[18] In 1907,[19] the three brothers acquired fifteen addiional theaters in the state of Pennsylvania, and named their new business The Dusquesne Amusement Supply Company.[20]

In 1909, the brothers sold the Cascade Theater to open a second film exchange company in Norfolk, Virginia;[21] through this second film exchange, younger brother Jack joined his three brothers' business.[21] Afterwards, Sam and Jack went to Norfolk, while Harry and Albert stayed in Pittsburgh.[21] However, one serious threat to the Warners film company was the advent of Thomas Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company (also known as the Edison Trust), which charged distributors exorbitant fees.[22]In 1910, the Warners would sell the family business, to the General Film Company, for "$10,000 in cash, $12,000 in preferred stock, and payments over a four-year period for a total of $52,000".[23] After selling their business, the brothers found work distributing films for Carl Laemmle's Independent Fillm Company in Pittsburgh.[24] In 1912, Sam Warner would help the brothers earn a $1,500 profit with his film Dante's Interno[25] In the wake of the success Dante's Interno gave the brothers, Harry Warner-seeing Edison's monopoly threat growing- decided to leave Laemmle and establsh an independent film production company for him and his three brothers, Warner Features;[26] Albert and Harry opened an office in New York, while Sam was sent to operate the company's new Los Angeles film exchange division, and Jack was sent to run the company's new San Francisco film exchange division.[27] In 1918, thanks in part to a loan from Ambassador James W. Gerald[28] the brothers expanded operations to Hollywood, California,[29] where they set up a studio on Sunset Boulevard. Sam and Jack moved to the West Coast to produce films while Albert and Harry remained on the East Coast to handle distribution.

Between the years 1919 and 1920, unfortunately, the studio was not able to garnish any profits.[30] During this time, banker Montley Flint-who was, unlike most bankers at the time, not anti-semetic-.[31] helped the Warners pay off their debts.[31] The studio would also rebound in 1921, after the success of the studio's film Why Girls Leave Home.[32] On April 4, 1923, following the studio's successful film The Gold Diggers,[33] Warner Brothers, Inc. was officially established.[34]

On November 25, 1947, Albert Warner and other executives in the motion picture industry issued the Waldorf Statement, first promulgating the Hollywood Blacklist.

Albert Warner would serve as the treasurer of Warner Brothers Pictures until 1956, when he and Harry sold their interest in the business.

Albert Warner died in 1967 in Miami Beach, Florida where he had been living in retirement.

[edit] Personal Life

In 1908, Albert married his girlfriend Bessie Krieger[2] in New Castle[35] In 1923, Krieger died from influenza.[36] On April 23, 1925, Albert married his second wife, Bessie Siegal[37], the widow to one of his late friends[38] Jonas Siegal.[39] Siegal and Albert remained married until Albert's death in 1967.[40]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 22
  2. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), Warner Family Tree
  3. ^ Thomas (1990), p. 9.
  4. ^ www.adherents.com/people/pw/Jack_Warner.html
  5. ^ Thomas (1990), p. 10.
  6. ^ Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 18.
  7. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 20
  8. ^ a b Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 20.
  9. ^ a b Thomas (1990), p. 11.
  10. ^ Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 23–24.
  11. ^ Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 24–25.
  12. ^ Thomas (1990), pp. 12–13.
  13. ^ Thomas (1990), p. 12.
  14. ^ a b c d e Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 10
  15. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 32
  16. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 33
  17. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 34
  18. ^ Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 54–55.
  19. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 41
  20. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 40
  21. ^ a b c Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 42
  22. ^ Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 65–66.
  23. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 45-46
  24. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 46
  25. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 47-48
  26. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 51
  27. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 54
  28. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 62
  29. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 67
  30. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 71
  31. ^ a b Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 72
  32. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 73
  33. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 76
  34. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 77
  35. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 38
  36. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 78
  37. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 87
  38. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 88
  39. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 540
  40. ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 339

[edit] References

  • Thomas, Bob (1990). Clown Prince of Hollywood: The Antic Life and Times of Jack L. Warner. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. ISBN 0070642591
  • Warner, Jack; Jennings, Dean (1964). My First Hundred Years in Hollywood. New York: Random Books.

[edit] See also

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