Zukor, Adolph

Zukor, Adolph

▪ American motion-picture producer
born Jan. 7, 1873, Ricse, Hung.
died June 10, 1976, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.

      American entrepreneur who built the powerful Famous Players–Paramount motion-picture studio.

      Immigrating to the United States at age 15, Zukor entered the penny-arcade business in 1903. Between 1904 and 1912 he and his partner Marcus Loew (Loew, Marcus) controlled a chain of theatres; in 1912 he left Loew, bought the American rights to the British-French motion picture La Reine Elisabeth (Queen Elizabeth, or Queen Beth) starring Sarah Bernhardt, and made a fortune as the film's exclusive distributor. Zukor then devised the idea of making films featuring Broadway stage actors in their current successes. He formed Famous Players with the slogan “Famous Players in Famous Plays” and made The Count of Monte Cristo and The Prisoner of Zenda. He later hired Mary Pickford to act in motion pictures in Hollywood.

      In 1916 Zukor merged Famous Players with Jesse L. Lasky's Feature Play Company; Zukor became president and, in 1917, head of Paramount, which was Famous Players–Lasky's distribution company. In 1935 he became chairman of the board of Paramount Pictures, a figurehead position but one he retained (emeritus) until his death at the age of 103.

      Zukor was one of the first to recognize the potential of the star system and to pay his screen actors large salaries. The other key to his success was the huge number of movie theatres he controlled, which showed the films produced by the studio. His autobiography is The Public Is Never Wrong (1953).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • ZUKOR, ADOLPH — (1873–1976), U.S. motion picture executive. Born in Ricse, Hungary, Zukor went to the U.S. in 1888. He worked in New York and Chicago in the fur business. At first Zukor was interested in motion pictures from the business point of view and opened …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Zukor, Adolph — (1873–1976)    US film producer. Brought to the United States from Hungary as a boy, Zukor was a pioneer of full length feature movies. He was a founder (1917) and the president of Paramount Pictures …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Zukor,Adolph — Zu·kor (zo͞oʹkər), Adolph. 1873 1976. Hungarian born American film producer and executive credited with launching the film careers of such stars as Sarah Bernhardt and John Barrymore. In 1933 he helped found Paramount studios. * * * …   Universalium

  • Zukor, Adolph —  (1873–1976) Hungarian born American film producer and studio executive …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • Zukor — Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor Portrait de 1937 Nom de naissance Zukor Naissance 7 janvier 1873 Ricse  Hongrie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Zukor — Adolph Zukor (* 7. Januar 1873 in Ricse, Ungarn; † 10. Juni 1976 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien) war ein US amerikanischer Filmproduzent, der Paramount zu einem der erfolgreichsten Filmstudios machte. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Adolph Zukor — [Adolph Zukor] (1873–1976) a US film ↑producer. He was born in Hungary and moved to the US in 1888. In 1912 he began the Famous Players film company which later became ↑Paramount Pictures. He received a special ↑Oscar in 1949 for his services to… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Adolph Zukor — Infobox actor name = Adolph Zukor image caption = Adolph Zukor, 2nd from left birthdate = birth date|1873|1|7 location = Ricse, Hungary deathdate = death date and age|1976|6|10|1873|1|7 deathplace = Los Angeles, California, United States… …   Wikipedia

  • Adolph Zukor — Données clés Nom de naissance Adolph Zukor Naissance 7 janvier 1873 Ricse Hongrie Nationalité d origine  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Adolph Zukor — (* 7. Januar 1873 in Ricse, Ungarn; † 10. Juni 1976 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien) war ein US amerikanischer Filmproduzent, der Paramount zu einem der erfolgreichsten Filmstudios machte. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Filmografie (Auswahl) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”