Louis B. Mayer

Louis B. Mayer (1885-1957), American motion picture executive, for 25 years the most powerful producer in Hollywood. He was born in Minsk (now in Belarus), and three years later his parents moved with him to Canada. In 1907 Mayer moved to the United States and became a naturalized citizen in 1912. He was a film distributor and theater manager in New England. In 1916 he moved to Los Angeles and formed his own producing company, which in 1924 after a series of mergers became known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). As production chief of MGM from 1924 to 1951, he discovered many of the screen's greatest stars, producers, writers, and directors. Among his outstanding successes were The Big Parade (1925), Ben-Hur (1926), Grand Hotel (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), and the Andy Hardy series. The last-named are prototypical of Mayer's favorite projects; they were family oriented, uplifting, patriotic, and bittersweet.