The Famous Players Film Company was a film company founded in 1912 by

Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; hu, Zukor Adolf; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary '' Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of America' ...

in partnership with the Frohman brothers, powerful

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

impresario.

History

Discussions to form the company were held at

The Lambs The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a social club in New York City for actors, songwriters, and others involved in the theatre. It is America's oldest theatrical organization. "The Lambs" is a registered trademark of The Lambs, Inc ...

, a famous theater club where Charles and Daniel Frohman were members. The company advertised "Famous Players in Famous Plays" and its first release was the French film ''

Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth ''Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth'' (''The Loves of Queen Elizabeth''), ''Les Amours d'Élisabeth, Reine d'Angleterre'' (''The Loves of Elizabeth, Queen of England'') or ''La reine Élisabeth'' (''Queen Elizabeth'') is a 1912 feature 4-reel F ...

'' (1912) starring

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including ''La Dame Aux Cameli ...

and

Lou Tellegen Lou Tellegen (born Isidor Louis Bernard Edmon van Dommelen;"Lou Tellegen, Idol of Stage and Silent Screen, Stabs Himself Seven Times." Spartanburg (SC) Herald, October 30, 1934, pp. 1-2. November 26, 1881 or 1883 – October 29, 1934) was a ...

. Its first actual production was ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. L ...

'' (1912, released 1913), directed by Edwin S. Porter and starring James O'Neill, the father of dramatist

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...

. In 1914, the company purchased the former headquarters of New York City's Ninth Mounted Cavalry unit at 221 West 26th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The cavernous brick building made excellent filming space for Zukor, and the modernized site is still used today as

Chelsea Television Studios Chelsea Studios, also known as Chelsea Television Studios, is an American television studio and sound stage located at 221 West 26th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. History ...

. Hiring its performers straight from the New York City stage, Famous Players had an early roster of some of the city's biggest names including

Marguerite Clark Helen Marguerite Clark (February 22, 1883 – September 25, 1940) was an American stage and silent film actress. As a movie actress, at one time, Clark was second only to Mary Pickford in popularity. All but five of her films are considere ...

, Hazel Dawn, and H. B. Warner. The company also featured cinema's biggest star of the era,

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

, and presented theater idol

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

in his first two feature films. The company produced both short and feature-length productions. In 1916, the company merged with the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company to form

Famous Players-Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...

Corporation, which later became

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

Famous Players Fiction Studios

In 1915, the company established Famous Players Fiction Studios at 5300

Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts at Santa Monica Boulevard, at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. It ends at Lucile Avenue in Silver Lake. Melrose runs north of Bev ...

in Hollywood. The new studio's first film starred

. The studio later became Clune Studio, then California Studio, then Gross -Krasne, followed by Producers Studios Inc., and is now known as

Raleigh Studios Raleigh Studios is a studio facility located in Hollywood, Los Angeles and has been under the ownership of Raleigh Enterprises since 1979. The location has been active since 1915. Before Raleigh, the studio was run by Famous Players Film Company, ...

. Raleigh Studios is known for being the site of ''Gunsmoke,'' ''Perry Mason,'' and ''

Let's Make a Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is an American television musical comedy variety-game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created an ...

''. It is one of the oldest studios in Hollywood.

References

External links

Army Pictorial Center
built in 1919 as Famous Players Studio, now part of

Kaufman Astoria Studios The Kaufman Astoria Studios is a film studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens. The studio was constructed for Famous Players-Lasky in 1920, since it was close to Manhattan's Broadway theater district. The pr ...

American companies established in 1912 Entertainment companies established in 1912 Mass media companies established in 1912 Mass media companies disestablished in 1916 Silent film studios Defunct American film studios Film studios in Southern California Defunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los Angeles Paramount Pictures Entertainment companies based in California Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Articles containing video clips 1912 establishments in New York City 1916 disestablishments in California Film production companies of the United States American companies disestablished in 1916 {{US-film-company-stub

History

Famous Players Fiction Studios

See also

References

External links