Samuel Goldwyn

Polish-American who emigrated in 1896 and became one of the pioneering Hollywood entrepreneurs. In 1914 he formed a trio business association with Jesses Lasky and Cecil B. DeMille. Their first film "The Squaw Man" was a resounding success and provided their company with enough funds to complete 21 films in their first year. In 1916 the company added another partner, Adolph Zukor; fighting between the partners began and the company disbanded. Later that year, Goldwyn formed a new partnership with Edgar Selwyn, combining the syllable's of both names to form "Goldwyn." In 1918 he legally changed his name. He later made a merge with Louis Mayer to form MGM that only lasted until 1922. In 1923 he formed Samuel Goldwyn Productions, swearing never to associate with partners again. Sparing no expenses, recruiting the best talent in business and screenwriting, he began producing films of high quality. Soon, the Samuel Goldwyn Productions came to mean the best in entertainment. Goldwyn himself was not noted for great creativity but had the rare knack of consistently being able to put the right teams together. He received the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award in 1946 for "consistent high quality of production." Goldwyn married Blanche Lasky in 1910, divorcing in 1919 and married actress Frances Howard in 1925. She became quite active in all production phases of Goldwyn's films after brining up their son, Samuel Goldwyn Jr. Goldwyn was known for great philanthropy and some of the funniest malapropisms especially associated with Hollywood. Link to Wikipedia biography