Carl Laemmle was born in Germany in 1867. He and his family struggled with poverty, and when Carl was 13, he began an apprenticeship in accounting and sales. When Carl was 16 years old, his mother died. This was the triggering event that led him to America to join his older brother.
Carl ended up in Chicago and worked for 20 years as a bookkeeper and office manager. He quit his job at the age of 39. His original plan was to open a clothing store, but when he visited a Nickelodeon, he changed his mind. Nickelodeon was the original movie theater, and its name comes from the cost to enter: 5 cents.
Carl was fascinated by the future of movies and opened a movie theater in Chicago. Movie theaters at the time were required to buy the movies they showed. This led to the movie being shown over and over again until the cost was recovered. Carl and others established film exchange services where theaters could essentially rent a movie for a while.
Thomas Edison had a monopoly on the production of motion pictures. Carl decided to challenge Edison and sued him under the recently passed Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Carl won and began to make motion pictures.
Carl fought Edison’s hold over the motion picture industry by promoting individual actor stories. The film industry then became focused on star power, an advantage that Carl had over Edison.
Carl decided to move the production of movies to the west coast since the costs would be reduced and land was more available for outdoor scenes. He bought 420 acres of what was considered worthless land as a production facility. Today we call that land Hollywood.
Carl essentially created the movie business. Many of the all-time classic movies were produced by the company he created: Universal Pictures. In 1936, Carl was forced out of the business he created as a result of a hostile takeover.
Carl devoted the last years of his life to saving Jewish families as Hitler and his Nazi regime were taking over Germany. He is given credit for saving the lives of our 300 Jewish families. He passed away in 1939 at 72.
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“Everything is a dream until you decide to make it real.”—Unknown