Louis B. Mayer

Born

July 12, 1884

Died

1957

From

Dymer, Kyiv Governorate, Russian Empire [now Dymer, Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine]·Los Angeles, California, USA

Height

1.68 m (5'6")

Also:
Actor

Credits on file

Decades active

Awards

In short · Produced for 12 decades — 67 credits, 3 Canada S Walk Of Fame wins.

Remembered for

Ranked by community engagement + sustained interest across this person's credits in our database.

Recent & in release

2004
Award win
Canada S Walk Of Fame — Canada's Walk of Fame
1951
Award win
Academy Honorary Award — Academy Honorary Award
1950
Award win
Academy Awards — Oscar — Honorary Award

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Biography

Louis Mayer was born Lazar Meir in Ukraine and grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, after his parents fled Russian oppression in 1886. He endured a difficult childhood marked by poverty and physical and emotional abuse from his nearly-illiterate peddler father. In the early 1890s, he changed his name to Louis and altered his birth date to July 4, 1885. He moved to Boston in 1904 and initially struggled as a scrap-metal dealer before purchasing a burlesque house. While he earned large sums by showing films, particularly through The Birth of a Nation (1915), his early business ventures focused on legitimate theater in New England. As his theater empire expanded, he acquired and refurbished enough small movie theaters to move his business to Los Angeles and begin movie production in 1918. Along with Samuel Goldwyn and Marcus Loew of Metro Pictures, he formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Over the next 25 years, MGM became one of the most prolific studios in the world, producing numerous films and movie stars. Mayer played a central role in shaping the enduring image of Hollywood, home to stars such as Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, and Jean Harlow. He became the highest-paid man in America, a successful horse breeder, and a political force and Hollywood spokesperson. Mayer and MGM reached their peak at the end of World War II, but he was forced out in 1951. He died of leukemia in 1957.