This Day in History: 1892-08-02

Jack L. Warner, CEO and majority shareholder of Warner Brothers Studios, is born on this day in 1892.  Known as the Hollywood studio that pioneered sound with the 1927 movie “Jazz Singer,” Warner Brothers became one of the big six studios in the 20th century,  along with Paramount, Universal, RKO, MGM and Fox. Jack was one of four brothers who went into film distribution around 1906 and fought the MPPC,  Thomas Edison’s movie monopoly, then helped the company move to Hollywood and start making films there in 1919. They struck their first major success with Rin-Tin-Tin in 1923. Other notable movies produced by Jack Warner included Captain Blood, Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, East of Eden and hundreds of others. Jack Warner tricked the rest of his family into selling him shares of Warner brothers and assumed total control in the 1950s.  The company merged with other major media players to become Time-Warner in 1990.