Samuel Goldwyn

Samuel Goldwyn (/ˈɡoʊldwɪn/ GOHLD-win; born Szmuel Gelbfisz; Yiddish: שמואל געלבפֿיש; July 1879 – January 31, 1974) was a Polish-born American film producer and pioneer in the American film industry, who produced the United States's first major motion picture. He was best known for being the founding contributor and executive of several motion picture studios. He was awarded the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award (1973), the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (1947), and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1958).

Goldwyn was likely born in July 1879, although he claimed his birthday to be August 27, 1882. At the time, most Jews fabricated their ages to prevent future conscription for the Russian Empire. He was born as Szmuel Gelbfisz in Warsaw to Hasidic Jewish parents, Aaron Dawid Gelbfisz, a peddler, and Hanna Frymet (née Fiszhaut).

He left Warsaw penniless after his father's death and made his way to Hamburg. There he stayed with acquaintances of his family where he trained as a glove maker. On November 26, 1898, Gelbfisz left Hamburg for Birmingham, England, where he remained with relatives for six weeks under the name Samuel Goldfish. On January 4, 1899, he sailed from Liverpool, arrived in Philadelphia on January 19, and went to New York. He found work upstate in Gloversville, New York in the bustling glove business. Soon, his marketing skills made him a very successful salesman at the Elite Glove Company. After four years as vice-president of sales, he moved to New York City and settled at 10 West 61st Street.

In 1913, Goldwyn, along with his brother-in-law Jesse L. Lasky, Cecil B. DeMille, and Arthur Friend formed a partnership, The Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, to produce feature-length motion pictures. Film rights for a stage play, The Squaw Man, were purchased for $4,000 and Dustin Farnum was hired for the leading role. Shooting for the first feature film made in Hollywood began on December 29, 1913.

In 1914, Paramount was a film exchange and exhibition corporation headed by W. W. Hodkinson. Looking for more movies to distribute, Paramount signed a contract with the Lasky Company on 1 June 1914 to supply 36 films per year. One of Paramount's other suppliers was Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Company. The two companies merged on 28 June 1916, forming the Famous Players–Lasky Corporation. Zukor had been quietly buying Paramount stock, and two weeks before the merger, became president of Paramount Pictures Corporation and had Hodkinson replaced with Hiram Abrams, a Zukor associate.

With the merger, Zukor became president of Paramount and Famous Players–Lasky, Goldwyn was named chairman of the board of Famous Players–Lasky, and Jesse Lasky was the first vice-president. After a series of conflicts with Zukor, Goldwyn resigned as chairman, and as a member of the executive committee on September 14, 1916. Goldwyn was no longer an active member of management, although he still owned stock and was a member of the board of directors. Famous Players–Lasky later became part of Paramount Pictures Corporation, and Paramount became one of Hollywood's major studios.

In 1916, Goldwyn partnered with Broadway producers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn, using a combination of both names to call their film-making enterprise Goldwyn Pictures. Seeing an opportunity, he had his name legally changed to Samuel Goldwyn in December 1918 and used this name for the rest of his life. Goldwyn Pictures proved successful, but it is their "Leo the Lion" trademark for which the company is remembered today.

After personality clashes, Samuel Goldwyn left the company in 1922. Godsol became chairman of the board and President of Goldwyn Pictures in 1922. On April 10, 1924, Goldwyn Pictures was acquired by Marcus Loew and merged into his Metro Pictures Corporation, becoming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Despite including his name, Samuel Goldwyn was never connected with ownership, management, or production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.