Jesse Lasky
| Jesse L. Lasky | |
|---|---|
Lasky in 1915.
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| Born |
Jesse Louis Lasky September 13, 1880 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 13, 1958 (aged 77) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Children | Jesse L. Lasky, Jr. Betty Lasky, Billy Lasky, |
| Relatives | Samuel Goldwyn (brother-in-law), Mervyn LeRoy (cousin) |
Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 – January 13, 1958) was an American pioneer motion picture producer. He was a key founder of Paramount Pictures with Adolph Zukor, and father of screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky, Jr.
Born in San Francisco, California, he worked at a variety of jobs but began his entertainment career as a vaudeville performer that led to the motion picture business. In 1911 Lasky was the producer of two Broadway musicals, Hello, Paris and A La Broadway. Presumably this is how Cecil B. DeMille knew him before they both ventured into motion pictures in 1913. Lasky's sister, Blanche, married Samuel Goldwyn and in 1913 Lasky and Goldwyn teamed with Cecil B. DeMille and Oscar Apfel to form the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company. With limited funds, they rented a barn near Los Angeles where they made Hollywood's first feature film, DeMille's The Squaw Man. Known today as the Lasky-DeMille Barn, it is home to the Hollywood Heritage Museum. In 1916, their company merged with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company to create the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. In 1920, Famous Players-Lasky built a large studio facility in Astoria, New York, now known as the Kaufman Astoria Studios. In 1927, Lasky was one of the thirty-six people who founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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