Louis R. Lurie (September 6, 1888 – September 7, 1972) was an American real estate developer and financial backer of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

shows.

Biography

Lurie was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Career

His parents were divorced and he worked at an early age to help support his family. At the age of 14, he opened his own printing business. He moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and then in 1914, to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and used the proceeds from his printing operations to purchase and later develop real estate. In 1915, he built the first movie house in

. He went on to build over 300 buildings in San Francisco and owned the Geary Theatre and the

Curran Theatre The Curran Theatre, located at 445 Geary Street between Taylor and Mason Streets in the Theatre District of San Francisco, California opened in February 1922, and was named after its first owner, Homer Curran. As of 2014, the theater is owned by ...

. In 1962, bought the Mark Hopkins Hotel for $14 million. His Hale Bros. and J. C. Penney Co. real estate deals were noteworthy.

Broadway

He was a financial backer of many

shows including '' South Pacific'', '' Teahouse of the August Moon'', and '' Fiddler on the Roof''.

Personal life

In 1918, he married Babette Greenbaum; they had one son

Bob Lurie Robert Alfred Lurie (born 1929) is a real estate magnate, philanthropist, and former owner of the San Francisco Giants franchise of Major League Baseball from March 2, 1976, until January 12, 1993. Early life Lurie was born to a Jewish family

. His wife died in 1956. His charitable activities were channeled through the Lurie Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lurie, Louis 1888 births 1972 deaths American Jews American real estate businesspeople People from Chicago Businesspeople from San Francisco 20th-century American businesspeople