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Think it was just the stars and the moguls who made it big in Hollywood? Think again. Some of the biggest moneybags were the theater owners - particularly today's theater-owner-turned-empire-maker, Marcus Loew.
1870 - 1927
Marcus Loew was born in new York City to a Jewish family. His father had immigrated from Austria, and had married his mother in America, who was from Germany. He had 4 siblings. At age 6, Marcus had to get an after-school job selling newspapers to help bring more income into his impoverished family. At the age of 9, he quit school and got a job at a map-coloring company! Betcha didn't know that was even a thing... Well, with the Industrial Revolution being what it was, the unrest and workers' strikes lost him that job after a while, and he teamed up with a young man from work who happened to own his own small printing press. The pair did a lot of random printing jobs, and they did so well that they were able to upgrade to a better press and put out their own newspaper! Things were rolling along well for (10 year old) Marcus and his business partner....until....
Marcus' partner got married. Oh yes, he did. And the new wife insisted on his partner getting a bigger share of the profits. 50/50 was not good enough - dontcha know that married folk should always have top priority?? So Marcus moved on to other jobs, and eventually hit a gold mine in the fur industry. At age 12, Marcus got a job turning a crank in a fur factory. He was required to work ELEVEN-HOUR days. No wonder this is illegal today! But he stuck with the fur business and learned all he could about it. By age 18, Marcus started his own fur brokerage - and by age 19, he was bankrupt due to a slow season in fur (which he had forgotten to account for). Interestingly enough, this happened TWICE - as Marcus tried once again to restart his fur business, and once again went bankrupt. Oh, Marcus... Thankfully, he was able to get a job as a fur salesman and was able to pay off all of his former debt in just a few years! Way to hustle, Marcus!
With longtime friend Adolph Zukor (1923)
Well, now married, a father of twins and a fur salesman, things appeared to be settling down for Marcus, and he got a bit restless. He wanted a better-paying position, more financial security. And as fate would have it, he met a fellow fur businessman from Chicago...named Adolph Zukor. And Adolph was ready to get out of furs altogether - for a new business that was catching on. GUESS WHAT IT WAS??!? Adolph asked Marcus if he wanted a piece of his arcade, Automatic Vaudeville. Marcus did. The investment was so successful, Marcus was able to take his profits and open his own penny arcade, called People's Vaudeville. There was so many people in New York City that he and Adolph could run their arcades and still remain friends (not bitter rivals). The two remained friends as their respective new careers took form.
People's Vaudeville EXPLODED (figuratively, not literally!) and soon had several arcades. FYI: Marcus hired a bookkeeper around this time, who only had an 8th-grade education - and no knowledge of bookkeeping. He remained with Marcus for over 40 years, and later became vice-president and treasurer of the elite Loew's Corporation! After a while, Marcus heard about a penny arcade that was doing something new - and it was lucrative. Curious, he set out to see what it was. In a room above this arcade, the owner was showing "movies"! Up until this point, penny arcades had machines (like the one above) that only accommodated one viewer at a time, and showed very short film clips. With this new way to show moving pictures, you could have more viewers at once - and make more money! Marcus was sold, and immediately began setting it up at his Cincinnati arcade. Business boomed even more than before! Marcus. Was. On FIRE!
One of Marcus' many New York theaters (1910)
Ol' Marcus kept expanding, and his theaters got more focused on showing movies - and unlike the cheap, turn-and-burn "nickelodeon" movie theaters (thus named because admission was 5 cents), Marcus made his vaudeville-and-film theaters a bit upscale. This way he could charge more than nickelodeons, but less than a full vaudeville theater. Slick, hm? The practice of offering both live entertainment and a movie continued to earn him success for many years, as he acquired more theaters and extended Loew's Corporation into new areas.
Well in 1918, Marcus, out of loyalty to his long time friend Adolph, decided to show Paramount's movies in his theaters. What a friend! However, this was a time of upheaval in Old Hollywood, as everyone was trying to beat their competition with distribution and exhibition. What was the use in having film if you had no one to sell it to, or even show it!? Paramount was unable to give Marcus a steady stream of films to show on a regular basis, so Marcus did what he was wont to do anyways - buy more theaters!! He made so much money doing this, that he became wealthy enough to purchase Metro Pictures Corporation (later MGM, home of both Sam Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer).
The new empire (1925)
Marcus turned Metro into a more powerful machine than before (they had been small potatoes previously), and later on acquired Goldwyn Pictures - which juuuuuust happened to have some theaters of it's own, a large California studio and a lot of pull with some big newspapers. Hear that? They're playing Marcus' song! In 1924, the company officially became known as MGM, and in its second year it was the most profitable company in the industry!
His New York estate (year unknown)
Sadly enough, in 1926 - the same year his company had done so well, Marcus had a serious and recurring bout of pneumonia. Having poor health for several years, he couldn't get back on track, and passed away from heart failure at the age of 57. Variety called him "the most beloved man of all show business of all time". He was survived by his wife Caroline, and his twin sons Arthur and David (Arthur was involved in MGM's distribution end, and David became an independent producer).
Marcus is said to have been outgoing and good-natured with a great sense of humor. Therefore, we assume he was one of the rare "nice guys" in Old Hollywood, and his accomplishments astound people to this day. His life, as well as most of the moguls, can be seen as proof that hard work, persistence and creativity are what contribute most to one's success - regardless of one's financial status or educational degrees! Here's to Marcus Loew, and all of those yet to come!
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