Jack Cohn
{{short description|American film producer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jack Cohn
| image = Jack Cohn - Dec 1920 EH.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Jacob Cohn
| birth_date = {{birth date|1889|10|27|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York State, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1956|12|8|1889|10|27|mf=y}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| occupation = Film producer and executive vice president of Columbia Pictures Corporation
| yearsactive = 1908–1956
| spouse = Jeanette Lesser
| children = 3
| relatives = Harry Cohn {{small|(brother)}}
Leonore Annenberg {{small|(niece)}}
}}
Jacob Cohn (October 27, 1889 – December 8, 1956) was an American film producer and executive, who was the co-founder of Columbia Pictures Corporation.{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 10, 1956|page=31|title=Jack Cohn Dead; Film Pioneer, 67|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/12/10/archives/jack-cohn-dead-film-pioneer-67-cofounder-of-columbia-with-brother.html|access-date=January 10, 2021}}
Early life
Cohn was born in New York, the son of Joseph, a Jewish tailor from Germany, and Bella, from Russia. He had three brothers, Maxwell (1888–1948),{{cite magazine|magazine=Daily Variety|title=Maxwell Cohn Rites Held In New York|date=January 6, 1948|page=1}} Harry (born 1891), and Nathan (born 1900), and a sister Anna (born 1897).
He left school at 13 and joined the Hampton Advertising Agency as an errand boy, where he worked for six years.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title=Jack Cohn Dies; Once Film Editor At $7 a Week|date=December 12, 1956|page=7|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety205-1956-12#page/n94/mode/1up|accessdate=January 10, 2021|via=Archive.org}}
Career
In 1908, he became a laboratory assistant at Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures. He also became involved in editing and printing. He focused on newsreels and became editor and producer of Universal Weekly and established bureaus in key cities to provide the news. In 1913, he was placed in charge of production at IMP's studio at Tenth Avenue and 59th Street. His younger brother Harry was now also working for IMP and together they made their first film, Traffic in Souls (1913).
In 1919, the Cohn brothers joined forces with fellow IMP employee Joe Brandt and went on to found CBC Film Sales Corporation. They started making short films with the Screen Snapshots series starting in 1920 and made the company's first feature film, More to Be Pitied Than Scorned (1922). Following its success, they opened their own film exchanges. In 1924, they renamed the company Columbia Pictures.
Jack became supervisor of the New York office in charge of sales, while Harry moved to California to oversee the studio operations. Brandt stayed in New York with Jack.{{cite book |last=Katz |first=Ephraim |authorlink=Ephraim Katz |author2=Fred Klein |author3=Ronald Dean Nolan |title=The International Film Encyclopedia |edition=3rd |year=1998 |publisher=Harper Collins |location=New York |isbn=0-333-74037-8 |pages=273 }} Jack became executive vice-president, heading the distribution organization that included Nathan B. Spingold and Abe Schneider (father of Bert Schneider).{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|last=Green|first=Abel|authorlink=Abel Green|title=Jack Cohn's Helping Hand|date=December 12, 1956|page=7|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety205-1956-12#page/n94/mode/1up|accessdate=January 10, 2021|via=Archive.org}}
Over the years, there were power struggles between Jack and Harry with the two not speaking to each other for months. In 1932, Jack attempted to oust Harry but failed, with Brandt resigning and selling his third of the company to Harry, who took over as president, consolidating his power.
Personal life
Cohn married Jeanette Lesser and they had three sons: Ralph, Robert and Joseph Curtis. Ralph (1914–1959) founded Screen Gems, a Columbia subsidiary.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title=Obituaries|date=August 5, 1959|page=79|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety215-1959-08#page/n78/mode/1up|accessdate=January 10, 2021|via=Archive.org}} Robert worked for Columbia's Paris office and became a production executive in Hollywood. Joseph Curtis died in 1954 at the age of 32.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title=Robert Cohn as Key Figure In Col Pictures Aftermath Of Brother Ralph's Passing|date=August 5, 1959|page=5|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety215-1959-08#page/n4/mode/1up|accessdate=January 10, 2021|via=Archive.org}}
In 1939, Cohn founded the Motion Picture Pioneers, an organization for men who had served in the industry for more than 25 years. The Foundation of the Motion Picture Pioneers provided aid to the members.
Death
Cohn was admitted to the Midtown Hospital in early December 1956 for minor surgery and died of a pulmonary embolism on December 8, 1956.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0169906}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Jack}}
Category:Film producers from New York (state)
Category:American film studio executives
Category:American film production company founders
Category:Columbia Pictures people
Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Category:American people of German-Jewish descent
Category:Businesspeople from New York City