Famous Players (theatres)
Famous for Entertainment
Big Screen. Big Sound. Big Difference. |
|
| Private | |
| Industry |
Film exhibitor Bowling alleys Cable Television |
| Fate |
Acquired
|
| Predecessors | Famous Players Film Company |
| Successors | Cineplex Galaxy LP |
| Founded | 1920 |
| Founder | Nathan Nathanson (founder of earliest ancestor circuit) |
| Defunct | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
|
Area served
|
Canada |
|
Key people
|
John Bailey, President & CEO |
|
Number of employees
|
Over 10,000 |
| Parent | Viacom |
| Divisions | Coliseum SilverCity Famous Players Colossus Paramount Theatre |
Acquired
Famous Players was a Canadian-based film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous movie theatre locations in Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador. The company was owned by Viacom Canada but was sold to Onex Corporation-owned Cineplex Galaxy LP in 2005.
Famous Players Canadian Corporation dates back to the early days of Famous Players Film Company (later Paramount Pictures), founded in 1912, as its earliest predecessor, though that company did not have any operations in Canada until 1920, when it bought Nathan Nathanson's Paramount Theatre chain, which Nathanson had established four years earlier. Nathanson, along with being the 5th richest person in the world, became the first president of the resulting entity, Famous Players Canadian Corporation. In 1923, Famous Players bought out rival Allen Theatres, acquiring many buildings in the process . The Famous Players Theatres chain was always strongly linked with Paramount, and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount Communications at the time that firm was acquired by Viacom in 1994. Some of the most high-profile and popular theatres in the Famous Players chain were the Imperial and the Uptown in Toronto; and the Capitol, Orpheum, Stanley, and Strand in Vancouver.
Originally began with 13 theatres located in Ontario and British Columbia, the company quickly expanded its holdings to 100 by the end of 1926. Until the 1950s, the company continued to build its operations in the movie theatre sector.
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Wikipedia