Harry_warner

For other persons named Harold Warner, see Harold Warner (disambiguation).

Harold Morris "Harry" Warner (12 December, 1881 – 25 July, 1958), born Hirsch Warner in Poland, was one of the founders of Warner Bros. and a major contributor to the development of the film industry.

Early life

Harry Warner was born into a Yiddish-speaking Jewish family in Krasnosielc, Poland.Thomas (1990), p. 10. He was the only co-founder of Warner Bros. Studios who was born in Europe.Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 20. Harry was the eldest son of Benjamin Warner, a cobbler, and his wife, the former Pearl Leah Eichelbaum. After their marriage in 1876, the couple had three children, including Harry; one child died at a young age.Thomas (1990), p. 10. In search of a better future for his family and himself, in 1883 Benjamin made his way to Hamburg, Germany, and then took a ship to America.Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 18. Pearl Warner and the two surviving children, including Harry, joined him in Baltimore, Maryland less than a year later. In Baltimore, five more children were born to the family, including Albert and Sam.

Benjamin Warner relocated the family to Canada, where he attempted to make a living by bartering tin wares to trappers in exchange for furs. In Canada, two more Warner children arrived, including Jacob (later Jack) was born in London, Ontario.Thomas (1990), p. 11. After two arduous years in Canada, Benjamin Warner and his family returned to Baltimore.Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 23–24. In 1896, the family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, following the lead of Harry Warner, who established a shoe repair shop in the heart of the emerging industrial town.Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 24–25. Benjamin Warner worked with his son, Harry, in the shoe repair shop, until he secured a loan to open a meat counter and grocery store in the city\'s downtown area.Thomas (1990), pp. 12–13. In Youngstown, two more children were added to the crowded household.Thomas (1990), p. 12.

Business career

After the opening of movie theatres in Pennsylvania and Ohio in 1903, Harry Warner and his three brothers moved to California in 1918 to create a wider distribution studio. They were convinced that they would have to make movies themselves if they were to ever have success at showing them and generating a profit. Though the brothers struggled initially, they were eventually able to secure financing from the east coast that allowed them to take a gamble on the new idea of "talking movies.". Harry had initial reservations about the idea, in which he is memorably quoted as saying "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" when his Brother, CEO Sam Warner proposed the idea to him. Under Harry\'s and his brothers leadership, the company came to own and operate some 250 theatres in which to screen its films, and, more importantly, was a successful pioneer of the sound film industry and the company still thrives today.

Harry Warner also occupied a formidable central place in the Hollywood-Washington wartime propaganda effort during the Second World War. Despite his Conservative beliefshttp://www.jewishmag.com/75mag/hollywood/hollywood.htm, Harry was also a close friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a key proponent of intervention in Europe. Harry also had a bitter rivalry with his brother Jack over the years, particulary due to Jack\'s womanizing and use of the studio money, and even once chased Jack with a lead pipe, shouting "I\'m going to get you, you son of a bitch" an threatening to kill him

Death

Harry Warner died on 25 July, 1958. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Harry Warner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6441 Hollywood Blvd. In 2004 the Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania dedicated a film institute to him. They also host an annual Harry Warner film festival. He is interred in the Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.

Brothers

Harry Warner was the oldest of the Warner Brothers. The other Warner brothers were:

• Albert Warner (1883–1967), treasurer
• Sam Warner (1887–1927), CEO
• Jack Warner (1892–1978), production executive

Harry Warner had a son, Lewis Warner, who attended Worcester Academy, in Worcester, Massachusetts, as a boarding student. Shortly after graduation from the Academy in 1928 Lewis passed away. Harry and his brothers had a theater constructed in California, taken apart, and reassembled on the Worcester Academy campus. The building is known as the Lewis J. Warner Memorial Theater (Warner Theater to its students and faculty).

Notes

References

• Sperling, Cass Warner; Milner, Cork; and Warner, Jack Jr. (1998). "Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story". Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813109582
• Freedland, Michael (1983). "The Warner Brothers". New York: St Martin\'s Press. ISBN 0312856202
• Higham, Charles (1975). "Warner Brothers". New York: Scribner. ISBN 0684139499
• Thomas, Bob (1990). Clown Prince of Hollywood: The Antic Life and Times of Jack L. Warner. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. ISBN 0070642591
• Warner, Jack; Jennings, Dean (1964). My First Hundred Years in Hollywood. New York: Random Books.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Harry Warner

• Article on Harry Warner and his wartime propaganda role by scholar Nancy Snow for the Lear Centre, USC
• Warner Brothers Company History
• Harry Warner Film Institute, Pennsylvania

References

• "Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story" by Cass Warner Spelling, Cork Milner and jack Warner Jnr, University Press of Kentucky.
• "The Warner Brothers" by Michael Freedland, St Martins Press.
• "Warner Brothers" by Charles Higham, Scribner.

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