Hiram Abrams
Hiram Abrams | |
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Born | 22 February 1878 Portland, Maine, USA |
Died | 15 November 1926
(aged 48) Manhattan, New York City, USA |
Signature | |
Hiram Abrams (22 February 1878 – 15 November 1926) was an early American movie mogul and one of the first presidents of Paramount Pictures. He was also the first managing director of United Artists.
Biography
Hiram was born in
Paramount
Through the motion picture industry, Abrams became acquainted with
Zukor and Lasky sold Hodkinson more of their film rights and, using that money, they purchased Paramount stock to, by 1916, gain a majority of it. Then with Abrams, James Steele and William Sherry, they used this majority to vote Hodkinson out. Abrams took over as president and Steele as treasurer.[3]
In 1917, Abrams, while in Boston, organized a party for
United Artists
Abrams and his new partner,
During the company's early years, there were serious problems. The United Artists could not produce a continuous flow of films for theaters and suffered serious distribution problems caused by competing firms.
During Abrams' tenure, however, United Artists did release Griffith's Way Down East (1921) and Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925). Both were enormously successful, becoming two of the top ten grossing films of the 1920s.[10]
Abram's involvement in United Artists, and his life, ended in Manhattan on 15 November 1926, from a sudden cardiac incident, aged 48.[11]
References
- ^ Arthur Douglas Stover, Eminent Mainers: Succinct Biographies of Thousands of Amazing Mainers, Mostly Dead, and a Few People from Away Who Have Done Something Useful Within the State of Maine, Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury House, 2006.
- ^ J. A. Aberdeen. "W. W. Hodkinson: The Man Who Invented the Movie Business". cobbles.com. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
- ^ "Behind-the-scenes Intrigue at Paramount: Testimony of Al Lichtman". The New York Telegraph. April 26, 1923.
- ^ "The Morals of Hollywood and the Arbuckle Case: Owners of the Movies Are Responsible for Present Conditions". cinemaweb.com.
- ^ Will Irwin, The House That Shadows Built, New York City:Doubleday, Doran, 1929.
- ^ John Steinle (31 January 2022). "D.W. Griffith". sensesofcinema.com.
- ^ "D.W. Griffith • Great Director profile • Senses of Cinema". 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Ben Schulberg Leaves United Artists". Motion Picture World. April 12, 1919. p. 216.
- ^ "Ben Schulberg Sues Hiram Abrams; Alleging Partnership Agreement Broken". Motion Picture World. September 25, 1920. p. 510.
- Filmsite.org. Archived from the originalon November 21, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
- ^ Time, 29 November 1926
- Francis Russell, The Knave of Boston: In all the pack, Dan Coakley Deserved to be Called, American Heritage, August 1976, 27
- Nahma Sandrow, "The Jewish Traveler: Portland" on hadassah.org