Jack L. Warner

Trivia

• Narrowly escaped death in a car crash on 5 August 1958.
• In 1974, the former studio chief suffered a stroke that left him blind and enfeebled.
• Shortly after losing his way in the building that housed his own office, Warner retired.
• By the end of 1973, those closest to Warner became aware of signs that he was becoming disoriented.
• Actively campaigned for Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election, even buying full-page ads in major newspapers entitled, "Why Nixon Should be President".
• In the 1960s he was a fierce critic of opponents of the Vietnam War.
• Tried to block the production of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), a film he hated, until he saw the long lines of people waiting to see it. Then he said: "Now I like it".
• He personally testified as a friendly witness before the House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947, naming twelve screenwriters as Communist sympathizers.
• He was a staunch conservative Republican and an active supporter of the Hollywood blacklist.
• He went on a singing tour of vaudeville theaters in the Mid-Atlantic States, but returned home when his brothers decided to go into movie production.

Quotes

• I don't want it good. I want it Tuesday.
• I don't know what all the fuss is about. We've been doing it for years. We even dubbed Rin Tin Tin.
• If it's anything I can't stand it's yes-men. When I say no, I want you to say no, too.
• I have a theory of relativity, too. I never hire them.
• That reminds me, I need to pick up my laundry.

Biography

Jack L. Warner

Last Updated: Saturday, August 01, 2009

With his brothers Harry M. Warner, Albert Warner, and Sam Warner, he founded Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. in 1923. They released the first motion picture with synchronized sound, The Jazz Singer (1927) with Al Jolson. In the 1930s they gave employment to a parade of stars, including Bette Davis, Errol Flynn and Paul Muni, as well as James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and a man whose star would eventually rise in the 1940s, Humphrey Bogart. Decades later, the firm's successor, Warner Communications Inc., merged with Time Inc. to become Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media and entertainment company.