Louis B. Mayer

Louis B. Mayer was a cofounder of the Hollywood movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. For thirty years, he was the most powerful man in the motion picture industry.

Escapes Russia

Born Eliezer Meir to a Jewish family in Minsk, Russia, in 1885, Mayer emigrated to Canada as a young boy and attended school there. He changed his first name to Louis. In 1904, Mayer moved to Boston, Massachusetts , where he discovered nickelodeons, early movie theaters that charged five cents for admission. There he developed his love for moving pictures.

Recognizing a smart business investment when he saw one, Mayer opened his first movie theater on November 28, 1907, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Within three years, he had the largest theater chain in New England. In 1916, with a business partner, he created Metro Pictures Corporation, a talent booking agency, in New York City. Two years later, he moved to Los Angeles, California , and founded a production company, Louis B. Mayer Pictures Corporation. In 1920, Marcus Loew (1870–1927), of the Loew's theater chain, bought Metro Pictures and Goldwyn Pictures (founded by Samuel Goldwyn [1882–1974]). In 1924, a merger of those two companies with Mayer's resulted in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios.

Studio of stars

MGM became the number one studio of its time. Actors who wanted to become stars knew they had to find their way into MGM. The studio worked on an exclusive contract basis. This meant that an actor agreed to work only on MGM films for a specific number of years. The studio was responsible for marketing its stable of actors, and they were expected to behave according to Mayer's personal values and beliefs. He became known as the father of MGM, and he personally took care of many of the actors’ needs as long as he felt they deserved the help.

MGM's slogan was “More stars than there are in heaven,” and in fact the list of names he made famous backs up that claim. Elizabeth Taylor (1932–), Clark Gable (1901–1960), Judy Garland (1922–1969), and many others were “owned” by MGM, and they became household names because of it.

Power in different forms

In 1929, President Herbert Hoover (1874–1964; served 1929–33) tempted Mayer with an ambassadorship to Turkey, but Mayer declined so that he could oversee the studio's transition from silent films to “talkies.” He and Hoover had developed a strong friendship over the years, and throughout Hoover's presidency Mayer would phone the White House with suggestions on how to manage the government.

In keeping with Mayer's vision, MGM produced movies that celebrated the American dream: family, wholesome values, hope. He expected his employees to lead lives that upheld the values of the movies in which they starred. When Mickey Rooney (1920–), the star of MGM's successful Andy Hardy series of movies, made the front pages for his partying and womanizing, Mayer took Rooney to task. According to Time magazine, Mayer was overheard screaming at the actor, “You’re Andy Hardy! You’re the United States! You’re Stars and Stripes! You're a symbol! Behave yourself!”

Trouble brewing

As studio profits skyrocketed, tensions increased between Mayer and his production chief, Irving Thalberg (1899–1936). Thalberg had produced some of MGM's box-office giants, including The Wizard of Oz and Ben Hur. By 1936, Mayer was the highest-paid executive in America, making more than $1 million annually. Thalberg felt he ought to receive an equal amount because it was his perfectionism and dedication to each movie that made money for the studio.

Mayer resented the fact that many people considered Thalberg the mastermind behind MGM's achievements. The studio itself was divided between Mayer and Thalberg supporters. Thalberg, who had suffered from heart problems, died at the age of thirty-seven. Despite the rift that had grown between them, Mayer mourned his colleague.

Fifteen years under Mayer's direction had earned MGM the nickname of Film Factory No. 1. However, its popularity began to ebb as America entered the post–World War II (1939–45) years. The moviegoing public no longer wanted sentimentality and romance. Mayer seemed unable, and perhaps unwilling, to move the studio in a different direction.

A new era

Stars and directors began to demand their share of profits for each film—a benefit MGM had never allowed. Dore Schary (1905–1980), a writer and producer hired by Mayer to fill Thalberg's spot, found Mayer to be overbearing and outdated in his ideas. A fierce argument between the two men forced president Nicholas Schenck (1881–1969) to choose between them. Schenck chose Schary; after twenty-seven years, Mayer was out at MGM.

Angry and disillusioned, Mayer retired from public life. He died in 1957.