Carl Laemmle Jr.

Carl Laemmle Jr.
L. to. R. : Joseph P. Bickerton Jr. (theatre producer), Elmer Rice (playwright) and Carl Laemmle Jr. sign a contract for the film version of Counsellor at Law
Born	Julius Laemmle (1908-04-28)April 28, 1908 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	stroke
Years active	1926–1936

Carl Laemmle Jr. (April 28, 1908 – September 24, 1979) was an American businessman and heir of Carl Laemmle, who had founded Universal Studios. He was head of production at the studio from 1928 to 1936.

Early life

Laemmle was born on April 28, 1908. He was the son of Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures. He had a sister Rosabelle. His mother was Recha Laemmle (née Stern), who died in 1919 when he was eleven years old. She was buried in Salem Fields Cemetery, in the Glendale section of Brooklyn. The remaining members of the Laemmle family shared a large New York City apartment located at 465 West End Avenue.

The family moved to Los Angeles, California. On July 19, 1941, the family arranged to move Recha's remains to the family mausoleum within the Home Of Peace Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Career

During his tenure as head of production, beginning in 1928 in the early years of "talkie" movies, the studio had great success with films such as All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Dracula (1931), Waterloo Bridge (1931), Frankenstein (1931), East of Borneo (1931), A House Divided (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Imitation of Life (1934), and Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Laemmle (often referred to as "Junior") developed a reputation in this period for spending too much money on films that did not earn back their cost. By the end of 1935, Universal Studio had spent so much money, and had so many flops, that J. Cheever Cowdin offered to buy the Laemmles out. The notable success, both financially and critically, of the 1936 film Show Boat, was not enough to stem the downslide, and father and son were both forced out of the company. Neither worked on another film again, although Laemmle Jr. lived for 43 more years. Charles R. Rogers became the new head of production at the studio.

Personal life

Laemmle resided at 1641 Tower Grove Drive in Beverly Hills, California.

Death

Laemmle died from a stroke at the age of 71 on September 24, 1979, 40 years to the day of his father's death. He was buried in the Chapel Mausoleum at Home of Peace Cemetery.

External links

• Official Laemmle family website
• Carl Laemmle Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• Carl Laemmle Jr. at Find a Grave
• Carl Laemmle Jr., Virtual History