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Louis B. Mayer
Sign in to saveAlso known as Louis Burt Mayer, Louis Mayer
Canadian-American film producer (1884–1957)
OverviewAI-generated
Louis B. Mayer was an American film producer and screenwriter who worked in the production department. He was employed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and owned the Louis B. Mayer Pictures Corporation. His professional career began in 1907, and he worked in Saint John, Boston, Haverhill, and Los Angeles. Mayer spoke Yiddish and English. He was a member of the Republican Party in the United States.
Mayer was born in Dymer, which was then part of the Russian Empire and is now located in Ukraine. He died of leukemia in Los Angeles in 1957. His manner of death was natural causes. He had a child named Irene Mayer Selznick. He received an Academy Honorary Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is also recognized in the Hollywood Walk Of Fame collection.
Synthesized by Vinony from 27 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
Dymer, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire [now Vyshhorod Raion, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Louis Burt Mayer (born Lazar Meir in the Russian Empire; July 12, 1884 – October 29, 1957) was an American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM). Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industry's most prestigious movie studio, accumulating the largest concentration of leading writers, directors and stars in Hollywood. Mayer…
Known for
- Gene Kelly - An American in Hollywood — Self (archive footage)2025
- Rat Pack — Self (archive footage)2022
- Sid & Judy — Self (archive photos)2019
- 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year — Self (archive footage)2009
- Checking Out: Grand Hotel — Self (archive footage)2004
- So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM — Self (archive footage)2004
- Judy Garland: By Myself — Self (archive footage)2004
- Cole Porter in Hollywood: Begin the Beguine2003
- James Stewart: A Wonderful Life — Self (archive footage)1987
- Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown — Self (archive footage)1986
via TMDB
Key facts
- Preceded by
- Marshal Hale
- Succeeded by
- Earl Warren
- Born
- Lazar Meir , July 12, 1884, Minsk region , Russian Empire
- Died
- October 29, 1957 (1957-10-29) (aged 73), Los Angeles, California , U.S.
- Resting place
- Home of Peace Cemetery , Los Angeles County
- Party
- Republican
- Spouses
- Margaret Shenberg, ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1904 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1947 ) Lorena Layson ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1948 )
- Children
- 2, including Irene Mayer Selznick
- Occupation
- Film producer Studio executive
- Nicknames
- Louis Burt Mayer Ezemiel Mayer Louis Burton Mayer Lazar Mayer Lazar Meir
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Louis
- Family name
- Mayer
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Canada
- Place of birth
- Dymer
- Place of death
- Los Angeles
- Occupation
- screenwriter
- Employer
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Political party
- Republican Party (United States)
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Image
- Louis B Mayer cropped.jpg
- Work location
- Los Angeles
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- Louis B. Mayer
- cause of death
- leukemia
- date of birth
- 1884-06-30
- date of death
- 1957-10-29
- manner of death
- natural causes
- start of work period
- 1907-00-00
- name in native language
- Louis B. Mayer
- related category
- Category:Films produced by Louis B. Mayer
- partner in business or sport
- Samuel Goldwyn
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Louis Burt Mayer (/ˈmeɪ.ər/; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1884 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industry's most prestigious movie studio, accumulating the largest concentration of leading writers, directors, and stars in Hollywood.
Mayer was born in the village of Dymer, Ukraine, and grew up poor in Saint John, New Brunswick. He quit school at 12 to support his family and later moved to Boston and purchased and renovated a small vaudeville theatre in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He renovated and expanded several other theatres in the Boston area catering to audiences of higher social classes. After expanding and moving to Los Angeles, he teamed with film producer Irving Thalberg and they developed hundreds of films. Mayer handled the business of running the studio, such as setting budgets and approving new productions, while Thalberg, still in his twenties, supervised all MGM productions.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Louis B. Mayer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.