Background
Ethnicity:
Parents were Jews (his mother was German, while his father was born in Vienna).
Born into a poor Jewish family in New York City.
Ethnicity:
Parents were Jews (his mother was German, while his father was born in Vienna).
Born into a poor Jewish family in New York City.
In addition to regular schooling, Loew received Orthodox Jewish religious instruction (it is unknown how long he continued his religious studies). At the age of nine, Loew quit both school and his newsstand. Instead he went to work.
Due to the lack of school education and being busy with launching new businesses, Loew never got a chance for higher education.
After quitting school, Loew sold newspapers and lemons on the street, worked like a dog in an industrial printing plant, and began and failed at several business ventures - a print shop, furniture store and a fur factory - going bankrupt before he was 20. By 1899 Loew had made some modest real estate investments.
In 1904 he formed People's Vaudeville Company to produce variety shows in New York City and environments.
In 1910 he founded Loew's Theatrical Enterprises in New York City.
By 1913, Loew managed several theatres in New York City, e.g. the American Music Hall, Circle Theatre, Herald Square Theatre, etc. Outside of New York, he managed the Columbia Theatre (Boston) and the Metropolitan Opera House (Philadelphia).
In 1919 the company (Loew's Theatrical Enterprises) was reorganized as Loew's Inc.
The same year (1919) he acquired Metro Pictures Corporation in Hollywood.
In 1921 Loew opened 3500-seat flagship Loew's State Theater in Times Square, New York City.
In 1924 he acquired Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Productions, which were merged with Metro to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Loew was Jewish but decidedly non-practicing and secular. That is not to say, however, that he forsook his heritage. In 1916 he and several other theater owners in New York City (including William Fox) donated their theaters for a Passover Festival. The following year he was involved in collecting money for the Jewish War Relief Committee. And in 1919 he contributed $4,000 ($50,000 in 2010 USD) to the Jewish United Building Fund. After the United States had entered World War I Loew, through his theaters, was instrumental in various fundraising campaigns in New York City, including Liberty Bond drives and the multi-million dollar United War Work Campaign.
Quotations:
His personal qoutes:
"We sell tickets to theaters, not movies."
"I long ago learned that success cannot be weighed by the money at one's command. When you come down to the real facts I guess the most successful man is the one that has made the world a better place to live in and the people in it a little happier."
President of the subsidiary, Loew’s International
Producer, David L. Loew Productions
Founder, Automatic Vaudeville Company; Treasurer, Loew’s Consolidated
Co-founder, People's Vaudeville Company
Co-founder, Fort George Amusement Company
Co-founder, Fort George Amusement Company; Secretary, Loew’s Consolidated
Co-founder, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Co-founder, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
