| Carl Laemmle Universal Pictures/Studios |
| The year was 1884, and a ship had just said into the New York harbor. A wide-eyed immigrant walked down the gangplank of the steamship and stepped for the first time onto American soil. His only possessions were fifty dollars and dreams. His name was Carl Laemmle, the father of all things bearing the name Universal. This btw - is my favorite Hollywood innovater and legend! Carl Laemmle, was born on January 17, 1867 in Laupheim, Germany. He was born to a middle-class Jewish family, the 10th of 13 children in Laupheim, Germany. By age 13 he had become a bookkeeper and four years later he was an office manager. The boy had sheer determination! If he visioned it, he would stop at nothing to get it! In search of new opportunities, he immigrated to the U.S. at age 17 and began working as a courier for a New York drug store in 1884. After holding down several odd-jobs in Chicago, Laemmle settled in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where he became the manager of a clothing store. The he met his bride to be, and they were married. Following marriage to his employer's daughter, Laemmle moved back to Chicago and left the clothing business for more lucrative opportunities. He was a man about money and loved the drive to get it. He was about to open a "five and ten cent store," when the huge crowds going into a nickelodeon (theater) attracted his attention. The man who formerly lectured on the fineness of buttonholes saw an immidiate monopoly, and with the money he had saved to open the "five and ten cent" store, entered the motion picture business February 26, 1906. He opened the White Front movie house, admission five cents. The theater had been one of the most popular in Chicago among the working class, and it grew even more popular with Laemmle at the reigns. He found it to be a very lucrative venture, and in early 1906, he was able to open another and two months later still another. In 1908, he had a son, Carl Laemmle, Jr. Because he found the local film exchange an unreliable source of new film, the enterprising Laemmle launched his own Laemmle Film Service the following year. It too, proved profitable and it wasn't long before he was among the biggest film distributors in North America. His largest competitor was the powerful, notoriously ruthless Motion Picture Patents Company. They wanted to crush the smaller independant distributors. Unlike other small distributors though, Laemmle refused to lean to their pressure and would neither sell his business to them nor shut it down. Instead he founded the Independent Motion Picture Company of America (IMP), made Hiawatha, and launched an unprecedented publicity campaign designed to both promote the film and slander the Patents Company. In 1910, he stole the beloved "Biograph Girl," Florence Lawrence from them. His undying spirit to defeat those who hindered him, once again, paid off, but not without first going to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Laemmle, thus breaking the motion picture patents, making it possible for independents to produce. He always would consider that his greatest accomplishment. Laemmle moved to Hollywood to start a bigger film company there. He had yet even bigger dreams. He started doing something that was unheard of at that time. He took the actors in his films, and would play up their glamor, feeding the news with their exploits and publicly using their names at every opportunity. In this way, Laemmle began the star system that continues today. This is how star power began. Until then, actors were just ordianry people that considered thier jobs regular, and like any other job. Laemmle began buying up smaller companies and joined them all in one location to create the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, becoming one of the bigger studios in Hollywood. Located on a 230-acre parcel, he launched the studio in 1915 in a huge public ceremony attended by over 20,000 fans. Calling it Universal City, that is exactly what Laemmle's studio became. Laemmle had become one of the biggest moguls in Hollywood with his newfound Universal Pictures. He had reached his dream of always having enough money to never have to worry about it. His office was decked out with gold faucets, and a made to order desk. He sat with one leg dangling over the arm of a gros-point chair. The office had polished mirrors, two-toned taffeta draperies and looks like a boudoir. Always having a sense of humor, he would keep a log and make employees write what they thought about him in it. A small, portly and eccentric man, it wasn't long before Laemmle was called "Uncle Carl" by his myriad of employees (whom he treated like family). During this time, Laemmle helped such studio giants as Irving Thalberg and Harry Cohn get their start. When his son Carl Laemmle, Jr. turned 21, Carl, Sr. turned over the company to him. It was a mistake that nearly ruined the studio, for Laemmle Jr. proved to be too extravagant to be able to successfully helm the company through the Depression. Thanks to his son's mismanagement, the elder Laemmle ended up selling the once-great studio for a mere $5 million. He died four years later, just as Universal was beginning to once again rise to its former greatness. RIP Mr. Laemlle, you were and ARE the Hollywood great!!! Visit his grave and leave flowers here! |
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| UPDATE: *** UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD CHECKS INTO THE SITE .... *** Dear Tony, You're exactly right; Carl Laemmle is the father of Universal, and we would certainly not exist without his imagination, initiative, and business sense. In fact, Mr. Laemmle is not only the father of the movie studio, he is the inspiration behind the theme park! In 1915, Laemmle invited guests into the studio and charged them 25 cents to gather on a hill and watch silent films being shot. Since they were silent, the guests could be rather interactive; they could cheer for the good guys and boo the bad guys. Of course, this didn't work when films began using sound. During the Great Depression, times were tough for the movie studios as well as the rest of the country. However, people still needed entertainment, and Laemmle jr. attempted to fill that need. In 1936, Universal made the movie-musical "Showboat," which as you may know, broke many racial barriers in Hollywood. To pay for the production, Laemmle had to mortgage the entire studio. He raced to get the movie completed, but ran out of time. Unable to pay the debt, the Laemmle's lost control of the studio. Ironically, "Showboat" was released a few weeks later and instantly became a tremendous hit. Had Mr. Laemmle been able to finish the production a few weeks earlier, he may have salvaged his ownership of the studio, and the history of Universal->MCA Universal->Seagram Universal->Vivendi Universal->NBC Universal may have been extremely different. Mr. Laemmle was gone, and so was the public. However, some years later (in the 1960's), the Universal Studio Tram Tour was born out of Mr. Laemmle's initial idea to let the public into the very secret world of moviemaking. The tram tour was the first attraction at what became Universal Studios, and remains the signature and most popular attraction to this day. There are many memorials to the founder of Universal all over the lot. In fact, the main Universal Motion Picture building is named the Carl Laemmle Building. Also, a street is named after him on the lot. In the theme park at the Studio Tour, Carl Laemmle is spoken of on almost every single tour as the founder and brainchild of the studio and theme park. But, you are right, all of these things and more would not be enough to rightly honor all of the contributions Carl Laemmle made to our company and the entire entertainment industry as a whole. We hope to see you again soon at Carl Laemmle's Universal Studios! Sincerely, Ryan Slattery Studio Tour Guide Universal Studios Hollywood |
| UPDATES IN RED...April 7th, 2005 |