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Louis B. Mayer biography
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Louis B. Mayer filmography

[h3]Born to a Jewish family in Minsk, his family immigrated to New Brunswick in Canada when he was still very young and Mayer attended school there. [/h3]

His father started a scrap metal business and Louis worked with his father in the business until he was in his late teens, when he went to Boston.

In 1907 he purchased a house in Haverhill, refurbished it as a nickelodeon, and opened one of the earliest custom-designed cinemas.

He established theatres in New England which brought him to the film production of Metro Films in 1915, and the formation of the Metro-Goldwyn Mayer in 1924.

The first vice-president in charge of production for MGM, he was instrumental in the creation of Hollywood as a dream factory and the establishment of the star system, with such successes as Ben Hur (1926), Grand Hotel (1932), the Andy Hardy series, Ninotchka (1939), and countless others.

By 1948, due to the introduction of television and changing public tastes, MGM suffered a considerable dropoff in its success. Three years without a major Oscar award provoked conflict between Mayer and Nicholas Schenck, president of MGM's parent, Loews, Inc.

Mayer worked to control costs, hiring writer and producer Dore Schary as production chief. Schary preferred message pictures in contrast with Mayer's taste for "wholesome" films. Three years later, Mayer reportedly called Loews headquarters in New York with an ultimatum, "It's either him, or me" and Schenck fired Mayer from the post he'd held for 24 years.

Mayer tried to stage a boardroom coup but failed and largely retired from public life.

In 1950 Mayer received an honorary Academy Award.

Mayer had two daughters from his first marriage to Margaret Shenberg. Daughter Irene Gladys Mayer, married producer David O. Selznick and second daughter Edith Mayer married producer William Goetz - who later became President of Universal Pictures.

He died in 1957 and was laid to rest in the Home of Peace Cemetery in Los Angeles. Rumour has it that his last words were, "Nothing matters."
Louis B. Mayer biography




Louis B. Mayer biography



Mike (1926)

Memory Lane (1926)

The Unholy Three (1925)

Fine Clothes (1925)

The White Desert (1925)

Proud Flesh (1925)

Man and Maid (1925)

The Sporting Venus (1925)

Confessions of a Queen (1925)

The Denial (1925)

Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1925)

Lady of the Night (1925)

The Great Divide (1925)

Excuse Me (1925)

The Dixie Handicap (1924)

Greed (1924)

The Wife of the Centaur (1924)

The Silent Accuser (1924)

So This Is Marriage? (1924)

The Snob (1924)

Married Flirts (1924)

His Hour (1924)

Sinners in Silk (1924)

Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1924)

Bread (1924)

Why Men Leave Home (1924)

Women Who Give (1924)

The Eternal Struggle (1923)

Strangers of the Night (1923)

The Famous Mrs. Fair (1923)

Hearts Aflame (1923)

Rose o' the Sea (1922)

One Clear Call (1922)

The Woman He Married (1922)

A Question of Honor (1922)

The Song of Life (1922)

Her Mad Bargain (1921)

The Invisible Fear (1921)

The Child Thou Gavest Me (1921)

Sowing the Wind (1921)

Habit (1921)

Harriet and the Piper (1920)

The Woman in His House (1920)

The Fighting Shepherdess (1920)

Old Dad (1920)

The Bishop's Emeralds (1919)

A Midnight Romance (1919)

I Take This Woman (1940)

Ben-Hur (1925)

Greed (1924)

He Who Gets Slapped (1924)

Why Men Leave Home (1924)

Thy Name Is Woman (1924)

The Wanters (1923)

Strangers of the Night (1923)

Rose o' the Sea (1922)

The Woman He Married (1922)

A Question of Honor (1922)

Her Mad Bargain (1921)

The Invisible Fear (1921)

Playthings of Destiny (1921)

Sowing the Wind (1921)

Habit (1921)

Harriet and the Piper (1920)

The Woman in His House (1920)

The Yellow Typhoon (1920)

Polly of the Storm Country (1920)

The Inferior Sex (1920)

The Fighting Shepherdess (1920)

In Old Kentucky (1919)

Human Desire (1919)

Her Kingdom of Dreams (1919)

Mary Regan (1919)

A Midnight Romance (1919)

Virtuous Wives (1918)

Somewhere in America (1917)

The Great Secret (1917)

Lovely Mary (1916)

Dimples (1916)

Barbara Frietchie (1915)

Always in the Way (1915)
Louis B. Mayer biography




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