Today, Warner Brothers may just be the name of one of the largest and most popular entertainment companies in the world to many people. What you may not realize is that the name actually pertains to two brothers who founded the studio and turned it into one of old Hollywood’s powerhouses.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane and get to know the late Jack Warner, one of the four founders that helped birth pioneering film technology and a long list of iconic movie classics.
Family Business
Although he’s a legend in American filmmaking, Warner was born in Canada to Polish immigrants. He and his brothers, Harry, Sam, and Albert, were among the 12 children born to parents Benjamin and Pearl.
His love for entertainment began early when he started a vaudeville career after his family moved to Baltimore in the United States. While his aspirations didn’t pan out, he found a new career path in film.
With the help of his close-knit family, his brother Sam bought a projector and started showing films. Jack eventually joined him and they went into film distribution screening films in the small movie theaters they bought.
Commercial Breakthrough
After selling their theaters, the brother turned their sights onto film production. Their first big success came in 1918 with ‘My Four Years in Germany’.
Soon, they opened a film studio in Los Angeles and began producing more movies. The Warner brothers were also successful in making the transition from silent films to talkies and by the 1920s, they were already among Hollywood’s major players.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck the family when Sam died leaving Jack lost without the guidance of his older brother.
Ruthless Reputation
Jack persevered but, later on, gained a ruthless reputation, especially when it comes to workers’ salaries and the studio’s budget. This attitude also cost him his close relationship with his family.
He ended up buying out his brothers from the company when he found out they wanted to sell the studio. Jack became president of the former family business and the rest of Warner brothers never spoke to him again.
Lasting Legacy
On the brighter side of things, all of his hard work paid off. Under his leadership and vision, the Warner Brothers studio prospered.
It produced the popular Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and high-profile movies like ‘The Maltese Falcon, the James Dean-starrer ‘Rebel Without a Cause’, and the Academy Award-winning film ‘Casablanca’.
The studio was also home to Hollywood’s biggest stars at the time like Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, and James Cagney.