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- Stanley Lord was born on 13 September 1877 in Bolton, Lancashire, England.
- Art Director
- Additional Crew
- Writer
R. Ellis Wales was born on 3 November 1877 in Iowa, USA. R. Ellis was an art director and writer, known for The Penitentes (1915), The Test of Honor (1919) and Macbeth (1916). R. Ellis died on 11 December 1952 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Frank Bonner was born on 16 August 1877 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Terror Island (1920) and Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (1919). He was married to Almabeulah Ferris (1887-1981). He died on 8 July 1964 in San Leandro, California, USA.
- Clyde Westover was born on 19 March 1877 in Paola, Kansas, USA. He was a writer, known for The Man from Downing Street (1922), According to Hoyle (1922) and The Tong Man (1919). He was married to Blanche Beatrice Goggin and Sophie H. Servin. He died on 6 August 1951 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Rohan Clensy was born on 17 January 1877 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Devil's Profession (1915) and The Chance of a Lifetime (1916). He died on 24 February 1919 in Calais, Pas-de-Calais, France.
- Charlotte Hughes was born on 1 August 1877 in Hartlepool, County Durham, England, UK. She was married to Noel Hughes. She died on 17 March 1993 in Redcar, Cleveland, England, UK.
- William Roselle was born on 7 December 1877 in New York, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Moonstone (1915), Gloria's Romance (1916) and In Search of a Sinner (1920). He was married to Rose Winter. He died on 1 June 1945 in New York, USA.
- Pavla Stolzová was born on 28 June 1877 in Prague, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republik]. She was an actress, known for Bláhové devce (1938), Rozkosný príbeh (1937) and Studentská máma (1935). She died on 27 January 1948 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- Lajos Parlagi was born on 5 January 1877 in Szentes, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was an actor, known for Az utolsó éjszaka (1917). He died in December 1944 in Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Malopolskie, Poland.
- Producer
- Writer
Paul de Vallière was born on 17 May 1877 in Lausanne, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland. Paul was a producer and writer, known for Notre armée (1939). Paul died on 4 August 1959 in Lausanne, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland.- Fredrik Gjerdrum was born on 10 January 1877. He is known for Fänrik Ståls sägner (1926).
- Edwin Wallock, was a stage actor with several "stock" theatre companies in the mid-west. In 1912, he joined the Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago, and moved to Los Angeles with Selig later that year. He continued to act in several early silent film, usually portraying "the heavy" because of his dark complexion and slight build. In the 1920's, he returned to stage work with the Morasco Stock Co. of Los Angeles and the McGroarty "Pagent Plays" in Tijunga.
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
William Dillon was born on 6 November 1877 in Cortland, New York, USA. William is known for Tin Pan Alley (1940), New York Stories (1989) and Unconditional Love (2002). William died on 10 February 1966 in Ithaca, New York, USA.- A stalwart of the African-American stage, Ben "Dink" Stewart started out with his brother Alex singing and dancing for pennies on the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio. They soon worked up an act good enough to have them enter vaudeville. Dink went on to be known as a comedian and "sinegr of funny songs." He retired to Chicago, Illinois and died there in the winter of 1951.
- Louis Haines was born on 16 March 1877 in Milan, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Beyond Price (1921). He was married to Katherine Booth. He died on 25 July 1929 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Luigi Antonelli was born on 22 January 1877 in Castilenti, Abruzzo, Italy. He was a writer, known for Il barone di Corbò (1939). He died on 20 November 1942 in Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy.
- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Willy Prager was born on 23 May 1877 in Kattowitz, Upper Silesia, Germany. He was an actor and writer, known for Um eine Nasenlänge (1931), Die Nacht ohne Pause (1931) and Um eine Nasenlänge (1949). He died on 4 March 1956 in West Berlin, West Germany.- Marion Kerby was born on 7 July 1877 in Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Two Daughters of Eve (1912). She died on 16 December 1956 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Hugh Croise was born on 20 January 1877 in Cardinham, Cornwall, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for The Kensington Mystery (1924), The Ball of Fortune (1926) and Three Men in a Van (1921). He died in 1950 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK.- Lynwood Roberts was born on 25 December 1877 in Plumstead, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for I Live Again (1936). He died in 1958 in St. Pancras, London, England, UK.
- Dora Baker was born on 13 February 1877 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She was an actress, known for Rough Going (1925) and Riding to Fame (1927). She died on 4 October 1956 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
Emil Pollert was born on 20 January 1877 in Liblice, Cechy, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor and director, known for Prodaná nevesta (1933) and Prodaná nevesta (1913). He died on 23 October 1935 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].- Writer
- Actor
Paul Rosenhayn was born on 11 December 1877 in Hamburg, Germany. He was a writer and actor, known for Die Harvard-Prämie (1917), Das Geheimnis der Mumie (1921) and Der Star der großen Oper (1918). He died on 11 September 1929 in Berlin, Germany.- British journalist and novelist Philip Gibbs was born Philip Hamilton Gibbs in London in 1877 (his brothers Cosmo Hamilton and A. Hamilton Gibbs were also writers). In 1896 he was appointed as educational editor at the publishing house of Cassell & Co. After holding a variety of positions in the publishing industry, he got a job as an editor at the Daily Mail newspaper, and shortly afterward went to work for the Daily Express. After that he served as literary editor of the Tribune, and when that paper went out of business he moved to Littlehampton on England's South Coast and wrote a memoir of his days on Fleet Street, entitled "Adventures in Journalism". Though the book was critically acclaimed, a libel suit by a journalist he had worked with damaged the book's reputation, and although the suit was finally settled out of court, the book itself was not a financial success and Gibbs was forced to look for a job to support himself. He secured employment with The Daily Chronicle as a "specfial corespondent", which meant that he covered the more sensational stories of the time, such as gun battles between police and criminal gangs and the pursuit of the infamous killer Dr. Crippen across the Atlantic to America.
When World War I broke out Gibbs went to France to cover the fighting. He became one of only five reporters accredited by the British army. His resulting stories have been hailed as among the best war correspondence ever to have been written. In 1920 he and his four colleagues were made Knights of the Order of the British Empire for their work.
After the war he wrote several books about his experiences during it and traveled the world, investigating conditions in Russia during the infamous 1921 famine and journeying to the US several times, during one of which he managed to obtain an interview with the Pope (an almost unheard-of feat for a reporter). He resigned from the Chronicle in 1921 due to his strong disagreement with the paper's coverage of the Irish troubles. A prolific writer, he wrote several books during World War II about the suffering of the British people and how they remained defiant and refused to give up even during the darkest days of the German bombing campaigns against them.
He died in 1962 in Surrey, England, at age 84. - Lauri Näre was born on 31 July 1877 in Pertteli, Finland. Lauri was a composer, known for Meidän poikamme (1929). Lauri was married to Anna Irene Rehnström. Lauri died on 23 May 1959.
- Cinematographer
Arthur T. Quinn was born on 22 July 1877 in California, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for The Girl Philippa (1916), The Suspect (1916) and The More Excellent Way (1917). He died on 25 June 1946 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Esther Deltenre was born on 26 May 1877 in Lessen, Belgium. She was an actress, known for The Four Musketeers (1934), La famille Van Petegem à la mer (1912) and Monsieur mon chauffeur (1928). She died on 24 October 1958 in Vorst, Belgium.- Rudolf Borchardt was born on 9 June 1877 in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany. He was a writer, known for Pamela (1964). He was married to Marie Luise Voigt and Karoline Ehrmann. He died on 10 January 1945 in Trins, Tyrol, Austria.
- Oszkár Perczel was born on 22 February 1877 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was an actor, known for Dracula's Death (1921). He died in January 1947.
- Frána Srámek was born on 19 January 1877 in Sobotka, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. He was a writer, known for Mesíc nad rekou (1953), Léto (1949) and Stríbrný vítr (1956). He died on 1 July 1952 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- George Majeroni was born on 11 January 1877 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was an actor, known for Bella Donna (1915), The Sign of the Cross (1914) and Beating the Odds (1919). He died on 5 August 1924 in Saranac Lake, New York, USA.
- Lewis Broughton was born on 22 September 1877 in Walworth, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Life of St. Paul (1938), La belle Russe (1919) and Behind Masks (1921). He died in 1942 in Bournemouth, England, UK.
- Kurt von Lessen was born on 27 February 1877 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor and writer, known for Der Musikant von Eisenstadt (1934), Immortal Melodies (1936) and The Fairy Dolly (1936). He died on 12 February 1960 in Salzburg, Austria.
- Beth Nagel was born on 9 April 1877 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Tenderloin (1928) and Sweet Adeline (1926). She died on 29 October 1936 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Maria Júlia do Nascimento, Dona Santa, better known as Recife's queen of maracatus, was born on March 25, 1877, in the courtyard of Santa Cruz, Recife, Pernambuco. Before becoming Queen of the Maracatu Elephant, which made her famous, Dona Santa, or Santinha, played at the congadas (African rhythms), Verdureira and Miçangueira, was Queen of the Maracatu Leão Coroado and founded the Troça Carnavalesca Mista Rei dos Ciganos, that later became Maracatu Porto Rico do Oriente. Daughter and granddaughter of Africans, she had in her blood the rhythm of the zabumba and the "baque virado" from maracatu. As queen of the Leão Coroado, she married João Vitorino; later, she renounced the throne after her husband was chosen to reign at the Maracatu Elefante, founded, according to various sources, in 1800. Dona Santa reigned over Maracatu Elefante for sixteen years, during which time it became most prominent of all maracatus. When her husband died, she took over the rule but was not crowned until February 27, 1947. The Elefante used to performed on Carnival's Mondays. Dona Santa paraded in a nineteenth-century European-style dress made of silk, velvet, satin, embroidered with sequins, beads, and gold thread, and carried a metal marlin with which she blessed her "subjects," as well as a scepter, crown, high-necked cape, heels, earrings, rings, bracelets, and brooches. Her favorite colors were yellow, blue, white and green. A traditional and respected figure, Dona Santa reigned during many Recife's carnivals and was the subject of studies by several researchers, such as US researcher and anthropologist Katarina Real. Dona Santa died in Recife in 1962 at the age of 85.
- Burges Johnson was born on 9 November 1877 in Rutland, Vermont, USA. He died on 23 February 1963 in Schenectady, New York, USA.
- J.F. Briscoe was born on 18 October 1877 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is known for Fighting for Love (1917) and The Three Godfathers (1916).
- Warren Austin was born on 12 November 1877 in Highgate Center, Vermont, USA. He died on 25 December 1962 in Burlington, Vermont, USA.
- Actress
Vera Wilder was born on 2 October 1877 in Illinois, USA. She was an actress. She died on 12 January 1969 in California, USA.- Ernest Benham was born on 23 December 1877 in Kensington, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Greatheart (1921). He died on 5 December 1951 in Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, UK.
- Producer
- Director
Born in O'Porto, where his father, Spanish engineer Nicolau de Caldevilla, married Josefa Garcia de Caldevilla, and was working in 1878. He was brought up with a strict education, completed college (Curso Superior de Comércio), and at 26-years-old, was appointed by Portugal as deputy-consul to Cadiz (1904), in Spain. Subsequently he worked as commercial agent for the union of producers of O'Porto Wine, for practically all the Latin American countries, Marrocco, Egypt, and the Middle East.
He started a an advertising business at Buenos Aires, Argentina, and became know for his creative methods, sometimes spectacular. In Paris, France, he attended the École de Hautes Études de Commerce, taking the lessons from Octave-Jacques Guérin.
He wrote humor and general interest chronicles for newspapers, was a stage amateur actor, translated one comedy by the brothers Quintero, "Castelos no Ar", and wrote four plays himself. As a publicist, he wrote a number of specialized booklets.
In 30 December 1916, he founded the society Raul de Caldevilla & Cia. Lda., Oporto, Portugal, a Production company better known as Caldevilla Film with other local businessmen, such as Eduardo Kendall, João Manuel Lopes de Oliveira and António de Oliveira Calém. He was the sole manager until May 1922, when Raul Lopes de Oliveira took over the cinematographic section of the company, and Caldevilla presented his contract termination the 24 March 1923.
He was a member of Société des Amis d'O.J. Gérin, O'Porto's Association of Journalists and Writers, and the distinguished Geographical Society of Lisbon. He was given the Colars of Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, Cruce Roja (Spain), and Ordem Militar de Cristo (Portugal).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Armando Gill was born on 23 July 1877 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He was an actor, known for Angélica (1952), La mujer perdida (1966) and Napoli verde-blu (1935). He died on 31 December 1944 in Naples, Campania, Italy.- Composer
- Soundtrack
Louis Aubert was born on 19 February 1877 in Paramé, Ille-et-Vilaine, France. He was a composer, known for La mauvaise prière (1935) and Damia, la chanteuse était en noir (2017). He died on 9 January 1968 in Paris, France.- Alben Barkley was born on 24 November 1877 in Lowes, Kentucky, USA. He was married to Elizabeth Jane Rucker and Dorothy Brower. He died on 30 April 1956 in Lexington, Virginia, USA.
- Leila Romer was born on 18 September 1877 in Jackson, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for Anne of Green Gables (1919) and A Perfect 36 (1918). She was married to ? Tyler. She died on 10 February 1944 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Cinematographer
Joseph Mayer was born on 15 February 1877 in Illinois, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for Adventures of Tarzan (1921), The White Rider (1920) and False Brands (1922). He died on 17 June 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Additional Crew
Jennie Brenan was born on 24 April 1877 in Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Jennie is known for His Royal Highness (1932). Jennie died on 2 February 1964 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.- Hugo Csergo was born on 18 January 1877 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. Hugo was a writer, known for Studio One (1948). Hugo died on 1 January 1945 in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Oranienburg, Brandenburg, Germany.
- Gertrude Quinlan was born on 25 February 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for Back Home and Broke (1922). She was married to John Henry O'Neil. She died on 29 November 1963 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Archibald "Arch" Selwyn, the theater impresario who was one of the founders of the Goldwyn Studios, was born Archibald Simon in 1877. As a child he and his family, including older brother Edgar Selwyn, lived in Toronto, Ontario, before moving to Selma, Alabama, where his parents died. Arch followed his brother to New York in the 1890s, where Edgar was establishing himself as an actor.
Arch used his brother's theatrical connections to go into business with a loan from theatrical literary agent Elisabeth Marbury. He had acquired the rights to operate a Coney Island concession that required the purchase of a penny-slot-weighing machine, which he did with Marbury's money. After much frustration with the rusting machine, Arch and his partner garnered 1,300 pennies in one day from a Coney Island crowd mindful of their waists. The two partners promptly lost their loot, which was wrapped in a blanket, although they did recover it from a restaurant trash can. It was time for a new career for Arch.
In 1914 Edgar, Arch and future Broadway producer-director Crosby Gaige launched Selwyn & Company, Inc., a theatrical production company and play brokerage. In addition to producing plays, the company owned and operated Broadway theaters. The Selwyn Theater, which was built in 1918 on 42nd St. behind their six-floor New York City office building, was inaugurated on Oct 2, 1918, with the play "Information Please". The money for constructing the theater, which was re-christened the American Airlines Theater in the year 2000, was obtained by Arch from gambler 'Arnold Rothstein' (qv, the man who fixed the 1919 World Series (one of the inspirations for the character of Meyer Wolfsheim in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," Rothstein pioneered New York's narcotics trade, in addition to being a gangster, swindler and political fixer. He financed the first of George White's "Scandals" in 1918. His henchman Nicky Arnstein was the husband of Fanny Brice, who appeared in the rival Ziegfeld Follies). Rothstein, who liked to date Broadway showgirls, relied on his gal pals to steer patrons to his gambling parlors.
The most popular play to appear at the Selwyn was Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman's "The Royal Family," which burlesqued the Barrymore family. Opening on December 28, 1927, the play, which was produced by Broadway legend Jed Harris, ran for 345 performances. The Selwyns also built the Times Square Theater on 42nd Street in 1920. The theater opened with Edgar's own play, "The Mirage," which turned out to be a hit that ran for six months. The second play at the theater, Avery Hopwood's "The Demi-Virgin," ran for eight months. Eight of the 23 plays that followed these two inaugural hits were successful, and its boards were tread by the likes of Beatrice Lillie, Tallulah Bankhead and Robert Cummings. Gertrude Lawrence co-starred with the young Laurence Olivier and Noël Coward in Coward's 1931 hit comedy "Private Lives" at the theater. Other famous productions at the theater were "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" in the 1926-27 season, "The Front Page" in 1928 and "Strike Up the Band" in 1930.
The Times Square Theater's exterior featured an open-colonnaded limestone facade that had an entrance for the Selwyn's Apollo Theater. Built in 1919 as a movie-cum-vaudeville house named The Bryant, it was taken over by the Selwyns in 1920 and rebuilt. The renamed Apollo was converted to a legitimate theater showcasing plays and musicals, sharing a single marquee with the Times Square Theater. The Apollo didn't have its first hit until 1923's "Poppy," starring W.C. Fields. The theater then was taken over exclusively for George White's "Scandals," a Ziegfeld Follies-like show that ran annually from 1924-31. The "Scandals" was famous for its chorus line of undressed showgirls.
This was the Jazz Age, a period that saw the maturation of the American theater. The first great American playwright, Eugene O'Neill, made his mark in the era. Many of the musicals and popular songs launched in the 1920s are still with us, though, ironically, most of the popular playwrights of the era, like Avery Hopwood (who once had five hits running simultaneously on Broadway) have been forgotten. It was the time of Damon Runyon's "Bloodhounds of Broadway," when men like Rothstein and the swindler Julius "Nicky" Arnstein, the real-life models for Runyon's Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson, strutted their stuff in the theater district amongst the other Guys & Dolls. Flush with money from securities swindles and other dubious endeavors, they were anxious to launder their dirty money as well as rubs shoulders with the showgirls and well-heeled sheep they were born to fleece. Silent partners putting up the capital for the construction of theaters or the production of shows, they embodied a Promethean race of theatrical angels who stole the light of heaven and gifted it to Broadway, making it shine. The Jazz Babies were ecstatic, and the box office boomed. The apogee of the Great White Way, so called due to the proliferation of white light given off by the plethora of uncolored light bulbs on theater marquees, was the Broadway season of 1927-28, when Broadway featured over 250 productions in over 70 legitimate theaters. Broadway was the heart of popular culture, as the shows that debuted there would segue to neighborhood theaters in metropolitan New York, and then work their way out to the stock companies in the hinterlands, even penetrating to the sticks populated by hicks before the advent of the sound flicks. According to the book "Broadway" (1974) by "New York Times" drama critic Brooks Atkinson (for whom the Richard Mansfield Theatre was renamed in 1960), the traffic in the Times Square area was so intense, due to the conglomeration of taxis and trolley cars, that most people out for a night at the theater walked. The theaters were built close together in the district to create a kind of entertainment bazaar, enabling theatergoers to shop for a show to attend, much as modern moviegoers mull their choices at a multiplex. Walking from theater to theater, this crowd in evening dress provided audiences for less-popular works, as many shows had sold out. Theaters still holding empty seats sent batches of tickets to broker Joe Leblang to be sold at half price. Producers of hit shows often resorted to the practice of "icing," hoarding tickets and selling them through scalpers at a higher price, then splitting the profits. When Lee Shubert, the head of the Shubert theatrical empire, died in 1953, his safe unexpectedly held several million dollars ($1 million in 1953 is equivalent to approximately $6.6 million in 2003 dollars), likely the profits from icing. Broadway was hit hard by the Great Depression that came after the 1929 stock market crash. Attendance dropped off sharply in the 1930s (just as movie attendance would drop off sharply in the late 1940s and early 1950s, due to the inroads of television), and there were fewer productions mounted. The Chanin Brothers went bankrupt in 1933 and lost everything. The Shubert Theater Corp., the premier Broadway theater operator, went bankrupt in 1934, though the canny Lee Shubert proved to be the only bidder when the organization's theaters were auctioned worth, outfoxing his brother J.J.
As a new decade dawned, many theaters that once were home to legitimate productions converted to movie houses or retail space, while others were torn down. The Shuberts did manage to preserve many of Broadway's most significant theaters, but other impresarios like the Selwyns exited the business. The Apollo closed as a legitimate theater after the musical "Blackbirds of 1933" flopped. It then began showing movies, until it was acquired by the Minskys, who turned it into a burlesque theater from 1934-37. In 1938 it transformed itself into a movie theater specializing in foreign films, then evolved into a Times Square grindhouse, closing in 1978. It was reopened as a legitimate house with "On Golden Pond" in 1979, but now is just an empty shell.
In 1933 the Times Square Theater ceased to be a legitimate theater after the closing of the play "Forsaking All Others," starring Tallulhah Bankhead. Produced by Arch, the play opened on March 1, 1933, and closed after 110 performances. The theater was refitted as a movie house in 1934, as was The Selwyn that same year, before being converted into a retail store in 1940. The Selwyn degenerated into one of Times Squares' many double-feature grindhouses before being reclaimed as a theater in the 1990s, when the Wooster Group staged Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape" there in 1997.
The source of the Selwyn family's fortune wasn't solely the theater. To capitalize on Edgar's popularity as a Broadway actor and playwright, the Selwyn brothers started producing movies in 1912 through their All Star Feature Films Corp. Arch produced a film of Upton Sinclair's sensational expose "The Jungle" in 1914--The Jungle (1914))--with a script based on his sister-in-law Virginia Mayo's dramatization of Sinclair's novel. Mayo was a successful actress-playwright herself, who also wrote novels.
In December 1916 the Selwyns merged their movie company with that of producer Samuel Goldfish, creating the Goldwyn Pictures Corp. The symbol of the new company was a reclining lion, surrounded by a banner made from a strip of celluloid film, reading, in Latin, "Ars Gratia Artis" ("Art for Art's Sake"). Designed by advertising-publicity man Howard Dietz, who later became a Broadway lyricist and movie executive, it adorned the front gate of the studio's Culver City, California, production facilities, which ranked with the finest in Hollywood (the inspiration for the original "Leo the Lion" likely were the stone lions fronting the New York Public Library on 44th St., which was across from the All Star Feature Corp.'s offices).
Margaret Mayo and Broadway impresario Arthur Hopkins also were partners in the deal, but the dominant figure at Goldwyn Pictures and Goldwyn Distributing was Sam Goldfish. Goldfish, a founding partner of the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Film Co. in 1914, was forced out of the company in early 1916 when Jesse Lasky more closely integrated his production company with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Co. The two firms would serve as the basis of Paramount Pictures. Goldfish, who had immigrated to Canada as Schmuel Gelbfisz before coming to the United States, liked the name of his new company so well, he adopted it as his surname, thus becoming Samuel Goldwyn.
Goldwyn Pictures rented studio space in Fort Lee, NJ, at the Solax studios, and then at the larger studios owned by the Universal Film Manufacturing Co. In September 1917, Goldwyn released its first movie, Polly of the Circus (1917), based on Margaret Mayo's 1907 play, starring Mae Marsh. In addition to Marsh, Goldwyn's stable of stars included Tallulah Bankhead, Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, and Will Rogers. Its directors included Ralph Ince, Frank Lloyd and Raoul Walsh.
Sam Goldwyn dominated Goldwyn Pictures for three years, until he lost an ownership struggle in September 1920. He resigned and, tired of partners, became an independent producer for the rest of his career. Subsequently, the Goldwyn-less Goldwyn bought the Triangle Studios in Los Angeles and leased two more New York studios while ceasing operations in New Jersey. The company eventually was merged with Loew's Inc.'s Metro Pictures in 1924 through a stock swap, creating Metro-Goldwyn, which subsequently merged with Louis B. Mayer's Louis B. Mayer Productions. The Leo the Lion trademark would be adopted by MGM, and after being modified, would become one of the most famous and enduring trademarks in history. Under the guidance of Mayer and his central producer, former Universal production executive Irving Thalberg, MGM became the greatest studio in the world.
Arch's brother Edgar, who was the brother-in-law of MGM chief Nicholas Schenck through his second marriage to the former Ruth Wilcox, eventually became a producer at MGM and Mayer's editorial assistant. While Edgar concentrated on his career at MGM, Arch continued with his life in the theater, producing plays through 1939.
Between 1912 and 1942 Arch and Edgar, singularly and together, produced over 80 plays on Broadway and at least a score of motion pictures. Arch Selwyn died in Los Angeles on June 21, 1959, having outlived his brother and former business partner Edgar by 15 years.