|
Lew Wasserman
Lewis Robert Wasserman (March 22, 1913 – June 3, 2002) was an American businessman and talent agent, described as "the last of the legendary movie moguls" and "arguably the most powerful and influential Hollywood titan in the four decades after World War II". His career spanned nearly eight decades from the 1920s to the 2000s; he started working as a cinema usher before dropping out of high school, rose to become the president of MCA Inc. and led its takeover of Universal Pictures, during which time Wasserman "brought about changes in virtually every aspect of show business". In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. Several years later, he spoke of his ongoing work at Universal to '' Variety'', saying, "I am under contract here for the rest of my life, and I don't think they would throw me out of my office—my name is on the building." Career Early life Wasserman was born to a Jewish family in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Isaac Wass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania state border. Cleveland is the most populous city on Lake Erie, the list of cities in Ohio, second-most populous city in Ohio, and the List of United States cities by population, 53rd-most populous city in the U.S. with a population of 372,624 in 2020. The city anchors the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropolitan area, the Metropolitan statistical area, 33rd-largest in the U.S. at 2.18 million residents, as well as the larger Cleveland–Akron, Ohio, Akron–Canton, Ohio, Canton combined statistical area with 3.63 million residents. Cleveland was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve in modern-day Northeast Ohio by General Moses Clea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Star System (filmmaking)
The star system was the method of creating, promoting and exploiting stars in Hollywood films from the 1920s until the 1960s. Movie studios selected promising young actors and glamorised and created personas for them, often inventing new names and even new backgrounds. Examples of stars who went through the star system include Cary Grant (born Archibald Leach), Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur), and Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr.). The star system put an emphasis on the image rather than the acting, although discreet acting, voice, and dancing lessons were a common part of the regimen. Women were expected to behave like ladies, and were never to leave the house without makeup and stylish clothes. Men were expected to be seen in public as gentlemen. Morality clauses were a common part of actors' studio contracts. Studio executives, public relations staffs, and agents worked together with the actor to create a star persona and cover up incidents or lifestyles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Universal Studios, Inc
Universal Studios, Inc. (formerly known as MCA Inc., also known simply as Universal) is an American mass media and entertainment conglomerate and holding company which owns Universal Pictures and other media and entertainment assets. It is the film production arm of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast. The company is one of two namesake flagship subsidiaries of NBCUniversal alongside the National Broadcasting Company ( NBC), the oldest of the United States' Big Three television networks. Originally founded in 1924 as Music Corporation of America by Jules C. Stein and William R. Goodheart Jr., the company became a major force in the film and entertainment industry. Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City. Woody Woodpecker, a character created by Walter Lantz, serving as Universal's mascot. History Seagram On December 9, 1996, a year after its acquisition by Seagram, MCA was rebranded to Universal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Lew Wasserman Standing In Cross Hall During Reception And Presentation Of Congressional Medal To Lady Bird Johnson C46731-14 (cropped)
{{Disambiguation, geo ...
Lew or LEW may refer to: People * Lew (given name) * Lew (surname) Places * Lew, Oxfordshire, England * River Lew, in Devon, England Transport * LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany * Lew (locomotive), a British narrow gauge railway locomotive built in 1897 for the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway * Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport, by IATA airport code * Lewisham station, by National Rail station code Other uses * An ancient manor now within the parish of Northlew, Devon * Irene Lew, the main female character in the ''Ninja Gaiden'' trilogy See also * * * Lou (other) * Loo (other) * Lieu (other) Lieu is French for a ''length'', ''location'', or a ''place''. In English it refers to: *'' in lieu of'' comes from the French expression ''au lieu de'' and means “in place of” or “instead of” *obituaries sometimes contain a request that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Winchester '73
''Winchester '73'' is a 1950 American Western film noir starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Directed by Anthony Mann and written by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards, the film is set in 1876 and follows the turbulent passing of a prized Winchester 1873 repeating rifle from one ill-fated owner to another interleaved with a cowboy's search for a murderous fugitive. It is the first of eight films that Mann and Stewart made together, and is also the first film from which an actor received a percentage of the receipts, a practice known as "points", as compensation. Along with Millard Mitchell and Charles Drake in featured support, Rock Hudson portrays a Native American tribal leader, and Tony Curtis appears as a besieged cavalry trooper, both in minor roles at the beginning of their careers. The film received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Written American Western. In 2015, the United States Library of Congr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Anthony Mann
Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. He came to prominence as a skilled director of ''Film noirs, film noir'' and Western film, Westerns, and for his Epic film, historical epics. Mann started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where he worked as a talent scout and casting director. He then became an assistant director, most notably working for Preston Sturges. His directorial debut was ''Dr. Broadway'' (1942). He directed several feature films for numerous production companies, including RKO Pictures, Eagle-Lion Films, Universal Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). His first major success was ''T-Men'' (1947), garnering notable recognition for producing several films in the ''film noir'' genre through modest budgets and short shooting schedules. As a director, he often collaborated with cinematographer John Alton. During the 1950s, Man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality he portrayed both on and off the screen, he epitomized the " American ideal" in the mid-twentieth century. In 1999, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked him third on its list of the greatest American male actors. He received numerous honors including the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1980, the Kennedy Center Honor in 1983, as well as the Academy Honorary Award and Presidential Medal of Freedom, both in 1985. Born and raised in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Stewart started acting while at Princeton University. After graduating, he began a career as a stage actor making his Broadway debut in the play '' Carry Nation'' (1932). He landed his first supporting role in '' The Murder Man'' (1935) and had his breakthrough in Frank Capra's en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Film Packaging
In film industry terminology, movie packaging or film packaging is a type of product bundling in which a top-level talent agency starts up a film or television project using writers, directors and/or actors it represents, before giving other agencies a chance to submit their clients for the project. For this service, the talent agency negotiates a packaging fee. Packaging is frequently done by the "big four" talent agencies Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Endeavor, United Talent Agency, and ICM Partners (now merged with CAA). In 2019, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) sued several large talent agencies over the practice, arguing that they created conflicts of interest between the agents and those they represented. As a result, packaging practices were prohibited on all new WGA-covered projects after June 30, 2022. History Talent agent Charles K. Feldman has been credited with coming up with the first Hollywood "package deal". In June 1942, Feldman signed Marlene Dietrich, Ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Jack Valenti
Jack Joseph Valenti (September 5, 1921 – April 26, 2007) was an American political advisor and lobbyist who served as a Special Assistant to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. He was also the longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America. During his 38-year tenure in the MPAA, he created the MPAA film rating system, and was generally regarded as one of the most influential pro-copyright lobbyists in the world. Early life and education Valenti was born on September 5, 1921, in Houston, the son of Italian immigrants. He attended Sam Houston High School. During World War II, he was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. Valenti flew 51 combat missions as the pilot-commander of a B-25 medium bomber and received four decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. Valenti graduated from the University of Houston in 1946 with a BA. During his time there, he worked on the staff of the university newspaper, '' The Daily Cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is a Centre-left politics, center-left political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. One of the Major party, major parties of the U.S., it was founded in 1828, making it the world's oldest active political party. Its main rival since the 1850s has been the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, and the two have since dominated American politics. The Democratic Party was founded in 1828 from remnants of the Democratic-Republican Party. Senator Martin Van Buren played the central role in building the coalition of state organizations which formed the new party as a vehicle to help elect Andrew Jackson as president that year. It initially supported Jacksonian democracy, agrarianism, and Manifest destiny, geographical expansionism, while opposing Bank War, a national bank and high Tariff, tariffs. Democrats won six of the eight presidential elections from 1828 to 1856, losing twice to the Whig Party (United States) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party and became an important figure in the American conservative movement. Presidency of Ronald Reagan, His presidency is known as the Reagan era. Born in Illinois, Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and was hired the next year as a sports broadcaster in Iowa. In 1937, he moved to California where he became a well-known film actor. During his acting career, Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild twice from 1947 to 1952 and from 1959 to 1960. In the 1950s, he hosted ''General Electric Theater'' and worked as a motivational speaker for General Electric. During the 1964 United States presidential election, 1964 presidential election, Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" speech launched his rise as a leading conservative figure. After b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was known for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical film, historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue ten Academy Award nominations (and one write-in) for acting, and was the first woman to receive a AFI Life Achievement Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In 1999, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema. After appearing in Broadway theatre, Broadway plays, Davis move ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
