Carl Laemmle Jr.
{{Short description|American film producer (1908–1979)}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image = Carl Laemmle Jr., 1929.png
| caption = Laemmle Jr. in 1929
| birth_name = Julius Laemmle
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|04|28}}
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1979|09|24|1908|04|28}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Film producer|studio executive}}
| years_active = 1926–1936
}}
Carl Laemmle Jr. (born Julius Laemmle;{{Cite book |last=Birchard |first=Robert S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIP3SjWWUEgC&dq=%22carl+laemmle+jr%22+recha&pg=PA6 |title=Early Universal City |date=2009 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-7023-5 |language=en}} April 28, 1908 – September 24, 1979) was an American film producer, studio executive and heir of Carl Laemmle, who had founded Universal Studios.{{Cite web |last=Kratz |first=Jessie |date=2017-01-05 |title=Carl Laemmle: Founder of Universal Studios and Humanitarian |url=https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2017/01/05/carl-laemmle-founder-of-universal-studios-and-humanitarian/ |access-date=2023-01-21 |website=Pieces of History |language=en-US}} He was head of production at the studio from 1928 to 1936.
Early life
File:Carl Laemmle, Jr. portrait. Moving Picture World 1926.jpg
Laemmle was born on April 28, 1908, in Chicago, the son of Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures, and Recha Stern Laemmle, who died in 1919 when he was eleven years old.{{Cite book |last=Dick |first=Bernard F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K9JJEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22carl+laemmle+jr%22+recha&pg=PP1 |title=City of Dreams: The Making and Remaking of Universal Pictures |date=2021-11-09 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-9612-1 |language=en}} Carl Jr. had a sister named Rosabelle.{{cite web |url= https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/images/carl-laemmle-with-his-son-and-daughter/ |title= Laemmle, Carl with his son and daughter |author= |date= |website= Immigrant Entrepreneurship |publisher= |access-date= June 17, 2025 |quote=}} He also had a cousin Carla, an actress and dancer. His mother was buried in Salem Fields Cemetery, Glendale, New York. His family was Jewish, and during the 1930s Carl Laemmle Sr. assisted Jewish people in leaving Germany.{{cite web |url=https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/the-high-times-and-hard-fall-of-carl-lammle-jr/ |title = The High Times and Hard Fall of Carl Laemmle Jr.| date=27 May 2016 }}
The Laemmle family shared a large New York City apartment located at 465 West End Avenue before moving to Los Angeles, California.
Career
File:Bickerton-Rice-Laemmle Counsellor at Law.jpg (theatre producer), Elmer Rice (playwright) and Carl Laemmle Jr. sign a contract for the film version of Counsellor at Law]]
During his tenure as head of production, beginning in 1928 in the early years of talkie movies, the studio had great success with films such as All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Dracula (1931), Waterloo Bridge (1931), Frankenstein (1931), East of Borneo (1931), A House Divided (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Imitation of Life (1934), and Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
Laemmle (often referred to as "Junior") developed a reputation during this period for spending too much money on films that did not earn back their cost. By the end of 1935, Universal Studio had spent so much money, and had so many flops, that J. Cheever Cowdin offered to buy the Laemmles out. The notable success, both financially and critically, of the 1936 film Show Boat, was not enough to stem the downslide, and father and son were both forced out of the company. Neither worked on another film again, although Laemmle Jr. lived for 43 more years. Charles R. Rogers became the new head of production at the studio.
Personal life
Laemmle resided at 1641 Tower Grove Drive in Beverly Hills, California. He died from a stroke at the age of 71 on September 24, 1979, 40 years to the day of his father's death. He was buried in the Chapel Mausoleum at Home of Peace Cemetery.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Notes |
|---|
| rowspan=2|1930
|Film debut |
| All Quiet on the Western Front
| |
| rowspan=4|1931
| |
| Dracula
| |
| Waterloo Bridge
| |
| Frankenstein
| |
| rowspan=4|1932
| |
| The Old Dark House
| |
| Air Mail
| |
| The Mummy
| |
| 1933
| |
| rowspan=4|1934
| |
| Great Expectations
| |
| Imitation of Life
| |
| The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
| |
| rowspan=2|1935
| |
| Bride of Frankenstein
| |
| 1936
| Final film |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Commons category}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/user/AntoniaCarlotta/ Official Laemmle Family YouTube Channel]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130412153031/http://www.laemmle.us/ Official Laemmle family website]
- {{IMDb name|id=0480673}}
- {{Find a Grave|8701}}
- [http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/24723/carl-laemmle-jr Carl Laemmle Jr.], Virtual History
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laemmle, Carl Jr.}}
Category:20th-century American Jews
Category:Film people from Beverly Hills, California
Category:American people of German-Jewish descent
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:Burials at Home of Peace Cemetery
Category:Film producers from Illinois