Herbert K. Somborn (1880 - January 2, 1934) was an American film director and producer, and restaurant owner.

Biography

Somborn was the president of Equity Pictures, a film distribution company. He married Gloria Swanson in a civil ceremony at the

Alexandria Hotel The Hotel Alexandria is a historic building constructed as a luxury hotel at the beginning of the 20th century in what was then the heart of downtown Los Angeles. As the business center of the city moved gradually westward, the hotel decayed and g ...

in Los Angeles on December 20, 1919. They stayed in the hotel after the marriage, but as Equity was in financial difficulties they had to move out in 1920 to an apartment in Hollywood. They had one daughter, also named Gloria, born on October 6, 1920. In 1921 Somborn wrote to Swanson to say that he was leaving her. In March 1923 Somborn alleged that Swanson had committed adultery with fourteen men, including

Cecil B. De Mille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

Jesse Lasky Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 – January 13, 1958) was an American pioneer Film producer, motion picture producer who was a key founder of what was to become Paramount Pictures, and father of screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky Jr. Early life ...

, and

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 Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produ ...

, and asked for a $150,000 settlement. Scandals involving Fatty Arbuckle and Bill Taylor had led to the formation of the Association of Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, partly to manage public perception of the film industry's morals, run by Will Hays. Swanson was concerned that a divorce scandal would wreck her career, and Lasky faked a telegram from Hays suggesting that it would also be disastrous for the entire industry. Swanson agreed to negotiate with Somborn, and the final divorce papers granted him $70,000. They divorced on August 9, 1922 but remained friends. Somborn opened the

Brown Derby Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chain ...

restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard, using the settlement money; the restaurant building was shaped like a two-story derby hat. It became a favourite eating place for people in the movie industry, including Wallace Beery, Swanson's first husband.Madsen (1988), p. 168.Madsen (1988), p. 213. Somborn eventually owned three Brown Derby restaurants in the Los Angeles area. He died from complications of a kidney ailment.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somborn, Herbert K. 1880 births 1934 deaths American restaurateurs Film directors from Los Angeles Film producers from California