J.P. Bickell

Jack Bickell
Born	John Paris Bickell September 26, 1884 Molesworth, Canada
Died	August 22, 1951 (aged 66) New York City, U.S.
Cause of death	Stroke
Occupation	Businessman, philanthropist, and sports team owner

John Paris Bickell, also known as Jack Bickell, (September 26, 1884 – August 22, 1951) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and sports team owner. He is best known for his long-time association with the Toronto Maple Leafs professional ice hockey team as the owner, president, chairman and director 1924-1951.

Bickell's parents were Rev. David Bickell and Annie Paris, who was a teacher. Born in Molesworth, near Listowel, and raised in Toronto, Bickell was their second child of four. His father died when he was six years old; his younger brother died when John was eight years old; and his older brother died in 1898 when John was 12 years old.

Bickell attended St. Andrew's College, where he was one of the first 100 graduates.

Bickell started his own brokerage firm, J. P. Bickell & Co., at the age of 23 and was a millionaire by 30. He sold his firm in 1919 to concentrate on his various movie and mining interests. His hiatus from the industry did not last long as on April 15, 1926 he was a senior partner in the New York brokerage firm of Thomson McKinnon. He left the firm in to take on his WWII responsibilities in late 1939.

Bickell was a key player in the development of the movie industry in Canada. He served as president of both Eastern Theatres Limited and Hamilton United Theatres Limited. Eastern Theatres, oversaw the construction of Toronto’s Pantages Theatre, which specialized in the era’s wildly popular vaudeville acts. Similarly, Bickell also served as vice-president of the Select Pictures Corporation a Canadian distribution company, and was also part of the team that acquired Montreal’s Théâtre St-Denis in October 1917. Bickell was vice-president of the Regent Theatre Company, one of Toronto’s first large movie theatres which stood on Adelaide between Yonge and Bay Streets. The theatre’s company was formed in 1916 by a group of Toronto financiers including; P. W. Cushman, E. L. Ruddy, W. J. Sheppard, J. B. Tudhope and, of course, Bickell. Anticipating the ever-increasing interest in moving pictures, the company sought to acquire and transform J. Ambrose Small’s theatre, The Majestic, into a deluxe movie theatre. In 1920 Famous Players Canadian Corporation Limited was founded in Bickell's office and he served as the Vice President with Nathan Nathanson as managing director. Bickell's friend W.D. Ross, head of the Bank of Nova Scotia and later Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, Izaak Walton Killam of Royal Securities, Sir Herbert Samuel Holt of the Royal Bank, and Bickell, were all members of the Board of Directors that underwrote the necessary $4 million of the company’s initial share offerings. He ultimately sold out his interests in the movie industry in 1930 to the president of the corporation, Adolph Zukor of New York. Bickell then concentrated on his mining interests.

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