Editing Jack L. Warner

{{Short description|Canadian-born American film executive (1892–1978)}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Jack L. Warner
| image              = Jack Warner portrait copy.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Jacob Warner
| other_names        = Jack Leonard Warner
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1892|8|2}}
| birth_place        = [[London, Ontario]], Canada
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1978|9|9|1892|8|2}}
| death_place        = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Home of Peace Cemetery (East Los Angeles)|Home of Peace Cemetery]], East Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| years_active       = 1918–1973
| party              = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| nationality        = 
| occupation         = Film executive
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Irma Claire Salomon|1914|1935|end=div}}
* {{Marriage|Ann Page|1936}}
}}
| children           = 3, including [[Jack M. Warner]] and stepdaughter [[Joy Page]]
| relatives          = brothers [[Harry Warner|Harry]], [[Albert Warner|Albert]], and [[Sam Warner]]
}}

'''Jack Leonard Warner''' (born '''Jacob Warner''';<ref>Foster, Charles. ''Once Upon a Time in Paradise: Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood'', Dundurn (2003) p. 990</ref> August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-born American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the [[Warner Bros.|Warner Bros. Studios]] in [[Burbank, California]]. Warner's career spanned over 55 years, surpassing that of any other of the pioneering [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] studio moguls.<ref name="thomas4">Thomas (1990), p. 4.</ref>

As co-head of production at Warner Bros. Studios, Warner worked with his brother, [[Sam Warner]], to procure the technology for the film industry's first talking picture, ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'' (1927).<ref name="thomas52-62">Thomas (1990), pp. 52–62.</ref> After Sam's death, Jack clashed with his surviving older brothers, [[Harry Warner|Harry]] and [[Albert Warner]]. He assumed exclusive control of the company in the 1950s when he secretly purchased his brothers's shares in the business after convincing them to participate in a joint sale of stocks.<ref name = "thomas226"/>

Although Warner was feared by many of his employees and inspired ridicule with his uneven attempts at humor, he earned respect for his shrewd instincts and tough-mindedness.<ref name="thomas4" /> He recruited many of Warner Bros.' top stars<ref name="thomas45-49">Thomas (1990), pp. 45–49.</ref> and promoted the hard-edged social dramas for which the studio became known.<ref name="bw59">Buhle and Wagner (2002), p. 59.</ref> Given to decisiveness, Warner once commented, "If I'm right fifty-one percent of the time, I'm ahead of the game."<ref name="thomas4"/>

Throughout his career, Warner was viewed as a contradictory and enigmatic figure.<ref name="thomas4-7">Thomas (1990), pp. 4–7.</ref> Although he was a staunch [[Republican Party (USA)|Republican]], he encouraged film projects that promoted the policies of [[Democratic Party (USA)|Democratic]] [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].<ref name="bw59"/> He also opposed European [[fascism]] and criticized [[Nazi Germany]] well before America's involvement in [[World War II]].<ref name="bw68">Buhle and Wagner (2002), p. 68.</ref> An opponent of [[communism]], after the war Warner appeared as a friendly witness before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], voluntarily naming [[screenwriter]]s who had been fired at the time as suspected communists or sympathizers.<ref name="bw377-8">Buhle and Wagner (2002), pp. 377–378.</ref> Despite his controversial public image, Warner remained a force in the motion picture industry until his retirement in the early 1970s.

==Early years==
Jacob Warner (as he was named at birth) was born in [[London, Ontario]], Canada, on August 2, 1892. His parents were [[Polish-Jewish]]<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1115&context=vocesnovae |title=The Warner Brothers Prove Their Patriotism |first=Lara |last=Jacobson |date=2018 |journal=Voces Novae |volume=10 |issue=1 |access-date=October 28, 2019 |archive-date=October 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030081354/https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1115&context=vocesnovae |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAEyh6EY9kYC&q=polish+jews+warner&pg=PA28|title=The American Experience in World War II: The United States and the road to war in Europe|first=Walter L.|last=Hixson|date=April 10, 2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780415940290|via=Google Books|access-date=November 6, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019153446/https://books.google.com/books?id=CAEyh6EY9kYC&q=polish+jews+warner&pg=PA28|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nJ9h50sMkOMC&q=polish+jews+warner&pg=PA41|title=The Wolf at the Door: Stanley Kubrick, History, & the Holocaust|first1=Geoffrey|last1=Cocks|first2=Associate Professor of History Geoffrey|last2=Cocks|date=April 10, 2004|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=9780820471150|via=Google Books|access-date=November 6, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019153501/https://books.google.com/books?id=nJ9h50sMkOMC&q=polish+jews+warner&pg=PA41|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.californiamuseum.org/museum-news/california-hall-fame-induct-four-warner-brothers|title=California Hall of Fame to induct the four Warner brothers|website=California Museum|date=March 17, 2013 |access-date=October 28, 2019|archive-date=October 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028052512/https://www.californiamuseum.org/museum-news/california-hall-fame-induct-four-warner-brothers|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/from-polish-village-to-hollywood-fame-the-polish-movie-mogul-behind-warner-bros-pictures-1350|title=From Polish village to Hollywood fame: The Polish movie mogul behind Warner Bros. Pictures|website=www.thefirstnews.com|access-date=October 28, 2019|archive-date=October 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025093808/https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/from-polish-village-to-hollywood-fame-the-polish-movie-mogul-behind-warner-bros-pictures-1350|url-status=live}}</ref> immigrants from [[Congress Poland]] (then part of the [[Russian Empire]]), who spoke mainly [[Yiddish]]. He was the fifth surviving son of Benjamin Warner<ref name="sperling20">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 20.</ref> (originally "Wonsal" or "Wonskolaser"),<ref>According to Bette-Ann Warner, a second cousin to the Warner brothers, in ''The Brothers Warner'', 2008 documentary written and directed by Cass Warner, viewed on [[Turner Classic Movies]] March 8, 2010. Bette-Anne Warner's grandfather was a brother of the Warner brothers' father.</ref> a cobbler from [[Krasnosielc]], and his wife, the former Pearl Leah Eichelbaum.<ref name="sinclairarchives">{{cite web | url = http://dougsinclairsarchives.com/benjaminwarnerfamily.htm | first = Doug | last = Sinclair | title = The Family of Benjamin and Pearl Leah (Eichelbaum) Warner: Early Primary Records | publisher = Doug Sinclair's Archives | access-date = January 23, 2009 | archive-date = September 8, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190908233632/http://dougsinclairsarchives.com/benjaminwarnerfamily.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>In the United States Census of 1930, Jack L. Warner identified the birthplace of both of his parents as Russia. [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GR4N-H3Y?i=34&cc=1810731 "Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930"],{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} enumeration date April 23, 1930, "Beverly Hills City", Los Angeles County, California.  Digital copy of original enumeration page at [[FamilySearch]], a free online genealogical database provided as a public service by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.  Retrieved August 8, 2017.</ref>  Following their marriage in 1876, the couple had three children in Poland, one of whom died at a young age;<ref name="thomas9-10">Thomas (1990), pp. 9–10.</ref> another was Jack's eldest brother, Hirsch (later [[Harry Warner|Harry]]).<ref name="warner18">Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 18.</ref>

In 1888 Benjamin made his way to [[Hamburg]], Germany, and took ship for the United States. In [[New York City]], Benjamin introduced himself as "Benjamin Warner", and the surname "Warner" remained with him for the rest of his life.<ref name="sperling20"/> Pearl Warner and the couple's two children joined him in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] less than a year later. There the couple had five more children, including Abraham (later known as [[Albert Warner|Albert]]) and [[Sam Warner]].<ref name="warner20">Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 20.</ref>

[[File:YoungstownOhio1910s.jpg|right|thumb|Youngstown, Ohio, {{Circa|1910}}]]
In the early 1890s, Benjamin Warner decided to move to Canada, following a friend's advice that he could make an excellent living bartering tin wares with trappers in exchange for furs.<ref name="thomas11" /> Sons Jack and David were born in [[Ontario]].<ref name="sinclairarchives"/><ref name="thomas11">Thomas (1990), p. 11.</ref> After two arduous years in Canada, the Warners returned to Baltimore,<ref name="Warner23-24">Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 23–24.</ref> where two more children were born, Sadie and Milton.<ref name="sinclairarchives"/> In 1896, they relocated to [[Youngstown, Ohio]], following the lead of the eldest son Harry, who had established a shoe repair shop in the burgeoning [[Rust Belt|steel town]].<ref name="Warner25-26">Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 24–25.</ref> Father and son worked in the repair shop until Benjamin secured a loan to open a downtown meat and grocery store.<ref name="thomas12-13">Thomas (1990), pp. 12–13.</ref>

Jack spent much of his youth in Youngstown, and wrote of his formative experiences there in his autobiography: "[[J. Edgar Hoover]] told me that Youngstown in those days was one of the toughest cities in America, and a gathering place for [[Sicily|Sicilian]] thugs active in [[Sicilian Mafia|the Mafia]]. There was a murder or two almost every Saturday night in our neighborhood, and knives and [[brass knuckles]] were standard equipment for the young hotheads on the prowl."<ref name="Warner29">Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 29.</ref> Warner claimed that he briefly belonged to a street gang in Westlake's Crossing, a notorious neighborhood west of downtown.<ref name="Warner35-36">Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 35–36.</ref> Meanwhile, he received his first taste of [[show business]], singing at local theaters and partnering with another aspiring song-and-dance man.<ref name="thomas17-18">Thomas (1990), pp. 17–18.</ref> During his brief career in [[vaudeville]], he officially changed his name to Jack Leonard Warner.<ref name="sperling23">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 23.</ref> Jack's older brother Sam disapproved of these youthful pursuits. "Get out front where they pay the actors," he advised Jack. "That's where the money is."<ref name="thomas18">Thomas (1990), p. 18.</ref>

==Professional career==
===Early business ventures===
[[File:Harry Warner - Feb 1919 MPW.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Harry Warner – February 1919 MPW]]
In Youngstown, the Warner brothers took their first tentative steps into the entertainment industry. In the early 20th century, Sam formed a business partnership with another local resident and took over the city's Old Grand Opera House as a venue for "cheap vaudeville and [[motion picture|photoplays]]".<ref name="vindy-yo-12-30-23">{{cite news
  | title = Heard on the Corner: How the Warner Brothers, Movie Producers, Got Their Start
  | work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
  | date = December 30, 1923
}}</ref> The venture failed after one summer. Sam then secured a job as a movie [[projectionist]] at [[Idora Park, Youngstown|Idora Park]], a local amusement park. He convinced the family of the new medium's possibilities, and purchased of a Model B [[Kinetoscope]] for $1000 from a projectionist "down on his luck".<ref name="Warner49-50">Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 49–50.</ref><ref name="ohiomag-march83">{{cite news
  | first = Bob
  | last = Trebilcock
  | title = A Warner Brothers Production: They parlayed Youngstown nickelodeon into a Hollywood empire
  | work = Ohio Magazine
  | date = March 1985
  | pages = 24–25
}}</ref> Jack contributed $150 to the venture by [[pawnbroker|pawning]] a horse.<ref name="vindy-yo-09-11-78">{{cite news
  | title = Warner Dies; Movie Tycoon
  | work = The Youngstown Vindicator
  | date = September 11, 1978
| page = 1
}}</ref>

The enterprising brothers screened a well-used copy of ''[[The Great Train Robbery (1903 film)|The Great Train Robbery]]'' throughout Ohio and [[Pennsylvania]] before renting a vacant store in [[New Castle, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Warner54-55">Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 54–55.</ref> This makeshift theatre, called the Bijou, was furnished with chairs borrowed from a local undertaker.<ref name="ohiomag-march83"/><ref name="variety-09-13-78">
{{cite news
  | title = Jack L. Warner's Death Closes Out Pioneer Clan of 'Talkies'
  | work = Variety
  | date = September 13, 1978
| page = 2
}}</ref> Jack, who was still living in Youngstown, arrived on weekends "to sing illustrated song-slides during [[film reel|reel]] changes".<ref name="variety-09-13-78"/>

In 1906, the brothers purchased a small theater in New Castle, which they called the Cascade Movie Palace.<ref name="Warner54-57">Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 54–57.</ref> In 1907, the Warner brothers established the [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]]-based Duquesne Amusement Company, a distribution firm that proved lucrative until the advent of [[Thomas Edison]]'s [[Motion Picture Patents Company]] (also known as the Edison Trust), which charged distributors exorbitant fees.<ref name="Warner65-66">Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 65–66.</ref> In 1909, Harry agreed to bring Jack into the family business, sending him to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], where Jack assisted Sam in the operation of a second film exchange company.<ref name="sperling42">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 42.</ref> Later that year, the Warners sold their business to the General Film Company for "$10,000 in cash, $12,000 in preferred stock, and payments over a four-year period, for a total of $52,000"<ref name="sperling4546">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 45–46</ref> (equivalent to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|52000|1909|r=-5}}}} today).

===Formation of Warner Bros.===
The Warner brothers pooled their resources and moved into film production in 1910.<ref name="Warner73">Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 73.</ref> In 1912, they supported filmmaker [[Carl Laemmle]]'s [[Independent Motion Picture Company]], which challenged the [[monopoly]] of the Edison Trust. That same year, Jack acquired a job as a film splicer in New York,<ref name="sperling47">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 47.</ref> where he assisted Sam with the production of ''Dante's Inferno''.<ref name="sperling48">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 48.</ref> Despite the film's [[box office]] success, Harry still feared competition from the Edison Trust. He subsequently broke with Laemmle and sent Jack to establish a film exchange in [[San Francisco]], while Sam did the same in [[Los Angeles]].<ref name="sperling54">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 54.</ref> The brothers were soon poised to exploit the expanding [[California]] movie market.<ref name="thomas29">Thomas (1990), p. 29.</ref>

In 1917, Jack was sent to Los Angeles to open another film exchange company.<ref name="sperling59">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 59.</ref> Their first opportunity to produce a major film came in 1918, when they purchased the film rights for ''My Four Years in Germany'', a bestselling novel depicting German wartime atrocities, and the [[My Four Years in Germany|film adaptation]] became a commercial and critical success.<ref name="thomas34-35">Thomas (1990), pp. 34–35.</ref> The four brothers established a studio,<ref name="sperling65">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 65–66.</ref> with Jack and Sam as co-heads of production.<ref name="sperling100">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 100–101.</ref> As producers, the two solicited new [[screenplay|scripts]] and story lines, secured film sets and equipment, and found ways to reduce production costs.<ref name="thomas34-35" />

[[File:Hollywood-Studios-1922.jpg|right|thumb|Hollywood movie studios, 1922]]
In 1919, the fledgling [[Warner Bros.|Warner Bros. Studios]] followed up the success of ''My Four Years in Germany'' with a popular [[serial film|serial]] titled ''The Tiger's Claw''. That same year, the studio was less successful in its efforts to promote ''[[Open Your Eyes (1919 film)|Open Your Eyes]]'', a film on the dangers of [[venereal disease]] that featured Jack's sole screen appearance.<ref name="thomas37">Thomas (1990), p. 37.</ref> During this period, the studio earned few profits,<ref name="sperling713">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 71–73.</ref> in 1920 the Warners secured a bank loan to settle their business debts.<ref name="sperling713"/> Shortly thereafter, they relocated the film studio from [[Culver City, California]], to [[Hollywood, California|Hollywood]], where they purchased a lot on the corner of [[Sunset Boulevard]] and Bronson Avenue,<ref name="thomas38">Thomas (1990), p. 38.</ref> known today as Sunset Bronson Studios. The new location and upgraded facilities did not significantly improve the studio's image, which remained defined by its low-budget comedies and racy films on declining morality.<ref name="thomas39">Thomas (1990), p. 39.</ref>

In 1923, the studio discovered a trained [[German Shepherd Dog|German Shepherd]] named [[Rin Tin Tin]]. The canine made his debut in ''[[Where the North Begins]]'', a film about an abandoned pup who is raised by wolves and befriends a fur trapper.<ref name="thomas42">Thomas (1990), p. 42.</ref> According to one biographer, Jack's initial doubts about the project were quelled when he met Rin Tin Tin, "who seemed to display more intelligence than some of the Warner comics."<ref name="thomas42"/> Rin Tin Tin proved to be the studio's most important commercial asset until the introduction of sound.<ref name="behlmer4">Behlmer (1985), p. 4.</ref> Screenwriter [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] produced several scripts for Rin Tin Tin vehicles and, during one year, wrote more than half of the studio's features.<ref name="thomas45">Thomas (1990), p. 45.</ref> From 1928 to 1933, Zanuck served as Jack's right-hand man and [[executive producer]], with responsibilities including day-to-day production of films.<ref name="behlmerxii">Behlmer (1985), p. xii.</ref> Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and other projects, Warner Bros. was still a poor cousin to  Hollywood's "Big Three" – [[Paramount Studios|Paramount]], [[Universal Pictures|Universal]], and [[First National Pictures|First National]] studios.<ref name="nytimes14">{{cite news|title=Theatre Owners Open War on Hays|newspaper=New York Times|page=14|date=May 12, 1925}}</ref>

In 1925, the studio expanded its operations and acquired the [[Brooklyn, New York|Brooklyn]]-based theater company [[Vitagraph Studios|Vitagraph]].<ref>Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 86</ref> Later that year, Sam urged Harry to sign with [[Western Electric]] to develop a series of talking short films using the new [[Vitaphone]] technology.<ref name="thomas52-55">Thomas (1990), 52–55.</ref>

Sam died of [[pneumonia]] in 1927, just before the premiere of the first feature-length talking picture, ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'',<ref name="vindy-10-05-27">
{{cite news
  | title = Warner, Movie Magnate, Dies: Sam Warner, Former Youngstown Man, Rose from Obscurity to Leader in Field
  | work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
  | date = October 5, 1927
}}</ref> and Jack became sole head of production.<ref name="Warner180-181">Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 180–181.</ref> Sam's death left Jack inconsolable:  "Throughout his life, Jack had been warmed by Sam's sunshiny optimism, his thirst for excitement, his inventive mind, his gambling nature. Sam had also served as a buffer between Jack and his stern eldest brother, Harry."<ref name="thomas62">Thomas (1990), p. 62.</ref> Without his brother and co-producer, Jack ran the Warner Bros. [[Burbank, California|Burbank]] studio with an iron hand, and became increasingly demanding and harsh with his employees.<ref name="jewishmag.com">{{cite web | url = http://www.jewishmag.com/75mag/hollywood/hollywood.htm | title = Jews in Hollywood | publisher = Jewishmag.com | access-date = August 24, 2008 | archive-date = January 7, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080107115340/http://www.jewishmag.com/75mag/hollywood/hollywood.htm | url-status = live }}</ref>

As the family grieved over Sam's sudden passing, the success of ''The Jazz Singer'' helped establish Warner Bros. as a major studio. From an investment of only $500,000 in the film, the studio reaped $3&nbsp;million in profits.<ref name="sperling142">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 142–145</ref> Hollywood's other five major studios, which controlled most of the nation's movie theaters, initially attempted to block the growth of "talking pictures".<ref name="Thomas63">Thomas (1990), p. 63.</ref> In the teeth of this opposition, Warner Bros. produced twelve "talkies" in 1928 alone.<ref name="Thomas63"/> The following year, the newly formed [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] recognized Warner Bros. for "revolutionizing the industry with sound".<ref name="Thomas66">Thomas (1990), p. 66.</ref>

Despite Warner Bros.' new prosperity, Jack kept a tight rein on costs. He placed the studio's directors on a quota system and decreed a flat, low-key lighting style to smooth out the defects of cheap film sets.

===Depression era===
The studio emerged relatively unscathed from the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]] and produced a broad range of films, including "backstage [[musical film|musical]]s," "crusading [[biopic]]s," "[[swashbuckler]]s," and "women's pictures." As Thomas Schatz observed, this repertoire was "a means of stabilizing marketing and sales, of bringing efficiency and economy into the production of some fifty feature films per year, and of distinguishing Warners' collective output from that of its competitors".<ref name="schatz1988">Schatz (1988), p. 7.</ref> Warner Bros. became best known, however, for its hard-hitting social dramas, whose production Jack tended to support. These included gangster classics such as ''[[Little Caesar (film)|Little Caesar]]'' and ''[[The Public Enemy]]'' as well as the critically acclaimed ''[[I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang]]'', starring [[Paul Muni]].<ref name="thomas77">Thomas (1990), p. 77.</ref> Some of these films reflected a surprising (albeit temporary) shift in Jack's political outlook. By 1932, despite his longstanding association with the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], he openly supported [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] presidential candidate [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], staging a "Motion Picture and Electrical Parade Sports Pageant" at the [[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]] in Roosevelt's honor. This development foreshadowed an "era in which Warner would recruit the most [[New Deal]]-ish (often simultaneously the most [[left-wing]]) writers".<ref name="bw59"/>

[[File:James cagney promo photo.jpg|thumb|left|upright|James Cagney made 38 films with Warner Bros., cementing its position as a major studio<ref>{{cite web|title=James Cagney|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/26868%7C77446/James-Cagney/|website=Turner Classic Movies|publisher=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=June 2, 2017|archive-date=May 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523043116/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/26868%7C77446/James-Cagney/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
During this period, Jack took an active role in recruiting talent. To furnish Warner Bros. with much needed "star power", he raided contract players from rival studios, in some cases offering to double their salaries. This strategy yielded three leading stars from Paramount – [[William Powell]], [[Kay Francis]], and [[Ruth Chatterton]].<ref name="thomas75-76">Thomas (1990), pp. 75–76.</ref> In 1929, Jack persuaded British stage and screen actor [[George Arliss]] to play the title role in a [[Disraeli (1929 film)|remake]] of the 1921 [[United Artists]] film ''[[Disraeli (1921 film)|Disraeli]]'', which turned out to be a box-office hit.<ref name="thomas76-77">Thomas (1990), pp. 76–77.</ref> Then, in 1930, he spotted future stars [[James Cagney]], [[Joan Blondell]], and [[Frank McHugh]] in the cast of a New York play called ''Penny Arcade''.<ref name="Thomas79-80">Thomas (1990), pp. 79–80.</ref> Although Cagney turned out to be Jack's greatest prize, he was also the studio executive's biggest professional headache.<ref name="Thomas80-81">Thomas (1990), pp. 80–81.</ref> During their frequent arguments, Cagney would scream the Yiddish obscenities he learned as a boy in [[Yorkville, Manhattan|Yorkville]], New York City.<ref name="Thomas81">Thomas (1990), p. 81.</ref><ref name="behlmer63">Behlmer (1985), p. 63.</ref> According to a 1937 [[Fortune (magazine)|''Fortune'' magazine]] article, Jack's most intense contract disputes involved Cagney, "who got sick of being typed as a girl-hitting mick and of making five pictures a year instead of four."<ref name="behlmer63" />

Zanuck resigned during a contract dispute with Harry Warner in 1933.<ref name="behlmer12">Behlmer (1985), p. 12.</ref> According to a 1933 letter that Jack wrote to [[Will H. Hays]], then president of the [[Motion Picture Association of America|Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America]], Zanuck had demanded more pay and "indicated his desire to raise the salaries of the actors and personnel in the motion pictures we were producing".<ref name="behlmer12"/> That year, Zanuck established [[Twentieth Century Pictures]], which merged with [[Fox Film Corporation]] in 1935.<ref name="behlmer13">Behlmer (1985), p. 13.</ref> A longtime Warner Bros. producer, [[Hal B. Wallis]], took over as executive producer.<ref name="thomas88">Thomas (1990), p. 88.</ref> Jack, however, denied Wallis the sweeping powers enjoyed by Zanuck, and the result was a decentralization of creative and administrative control that often created confusion at the studio.<ref name="schatz199-200">Schatz (1988), pp. 199–200.</ref> Under the new system, each picture was assigned a supervisor usually plucked from the ranks of the studio's [[screenwriter]]s.<ref name="schatz200">Schatz (1988), p. 200.</ref> Although Warner Bros. maintained a high rate of production throughout the 1930s, some pictures showed an uneven quality that reflected "not only the difficulty of shifting to a supervisory system but also the consequences of dispersing authority into the creative ranks".<ref name="schatz200"/>

Meanwhile, Jack's role in production became somewhat limited. After acquiring a creative property, he often had little to do with a film's production until it was ready for preview.<ref name="schatz212">Schatz (1988), p. 212.</ref> Nevertheless, he could be heavy-handed with employees and "merciless in his firings."<ref name="thomas4" /> Film director [[Gottfried Reinhardt]] claimed that Jack "derived pleasure" from humiliating subordinates.<ref name="thomas209">Thomas (1990), p. 209.</ref> "[[Harry Cohn]] was a sonofabitch," Reinhardt said, "but he did it for business; he was not a sadist. [[Louis B. Mayer|Mayer]] could be a monster, but he was not mean for the sake of meanness. Jack was."<ref name="thomas209"/>

Jack's management style frustrated many studio employees. Comedian [[Jack Benny]], who once worked at Warner Bros., quipped, "Jack Warner would rather tell a bad joke than make a good movie".<ref name="thomas156">Thomas (1990), p. 156.</ref> Jack frequently clashed with actors and supposedly banned them from the studio's executive dining room, with the explanation, "I don't need to look at actors when I eat."<ref name="david52">David (1981), p. 52.</ref>

[[File:Bette Davis - Errol Flynn.jpg|thumb|upright|Bette Davis and Errol Flynn in Warner Bros.' ''[[The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex]]'']]
The studio executive did, however, win the affection of a few film personalities. Among these was [[Bette Davis]], one of the studio's leading stars, who once fled to England to secure release from her contract.<ref name="sperling219">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 219–221.</ref> In later years, Davis defended Jack against rumors of sexual impropriety when she wrote: "No lecherous boss was he! His sins lay elsewhere. He was the father. The power. The glory. And he was in business to make money."<ref name="vindy-yo-09-11-78"/> Davis revealed that, after the birth of her child, Jack's attitude toward her became warm and protective. "We became father and child, no question about it." she said. "He told me I didn't have to come back to work until I really felt like it. He was a thoughtful man. Not many nice things were said about him."<ref name="thomas4" /> Warner also earned the gratitude and affection of [[Errol Flynn]]. In 1935, the studio head personally selected Flynn for the title role of ''[[Captain Blood (1935 film)|Captain Blood]]'', even though he was an unknown actor at the time.<ref name="thomas111">Thomas (1990), p. 111.</ref> In 1936, following the success of another costume epic, ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936 film)|The Charge of the Light Brigade]]'', Jack tore up Flynn's contract and signed him to a long-term deal that doubled his weekly salary.<ref name="schatz209-210">Schatz (1988), pp. 209–210.</ref>

===The prewar and war years===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Warnerestate.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Jack Warner's former estate]] -->
As the 1930s came to an end, both Jack and Harry Warner became increasingly alarmed over the rise of [[Nazism]].<ref name="Thomas129">Thomas (1990), p. 129.</ref> As Bernard F. Dick observed, the Warners, "as sons of Polish Jews who fled their homeland because of antisemitic pogroms&nbsp;... had a personal interest in exposing Nazism." Moreover, the attraction to films critical of German [[militarism]] had a long history with the Warners that predated their production of ''My Four Years in Germany'' in 1918. In 1917, while it was still in distribution, the Warners had secured the rights for ''[[War Brides (1916 film)|War Brides]]'', a movie that featured [[Alla Nazimova]] as "a woman who kills herself rather than breed children for an unidentified country whose army looks suspiciously [[Germanic peoples|Teutonic]]."<ref name="dick55">Dick (1985), p. 55.</ref> Beyond this, Jack was shaken by the 1936 murder of studio salesman Joe Kaufman, who was beaten to death by [[Sturmabteilung|Nazi stormtroopers]] in [[Berlin]].<ref name="dick55-56">Dick (1985), pp. 55–56.</ref><ref name="friedman82">Friedman (1982), p. 82.</ref> He later described the incident in the following terms: "Like many an outnumbered Jew he was trapped in an alley. They [Nazi hoodlums] hit him with fists and clubs and then kicked the life out of him with their boots and left him dying there."<ref name="warner249">Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 249.</ref> Hence, while other [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] studios sidestepped the issue, fearing domestic criticism and the loss of European markets, Warner Bros. produced films that were openly critical of [[Nazi Germany]].

In 1939, the studio released ''[[Confessions of a Nazi Spy]]'', starring [[Edward G. Robinson]]. The project, which was recommended to Jack by [[FBI Director]] [[J. Edgar Hoover]], drew on the real-life experiences of Agent [[Leon G. Turrou]], who had worked as an undercover agent.<ref name="Thomas129"/> Despite legal ramifications preventing the use of actual names, the studio aimed for an "aura of authenticity" and Wallis initially recommended eliminating credits to give the film "the appearance of a newsreel."<ref name="dick56">Dick (1985), p. 56.</ref> ''Confessions of a Nazi Spy'' was widely criticized. The critic Pare Lorentz wrote, "The Warner brothers have declared war on Germany with this one." The German ambassador responded by issuing a protest to [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Cordell Hull]], and the German dictator, [[Adolf Hitler]], who watched the film at [[Berchtesgaden]], was outraged.<ref name="thomas129130">Thomas (1990). pp. 129–130.</ref> Meanwhile, the studio received stern warnings from [[U.S. Congressman]] [[Martin Dies Jr.]] about defaming a "friendly country".<ref>Buhle and Wagner (2002), p. 211.</ref>

Initially, the studio bowed to pressure from the [[Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration|Roosevelt Administration]], the [[United States Motion Picture Production Code of 1930|Hays Office]], and [[Isolationism in the United States|isolationist]] lawmakers to desist from similar projects. Jack announced that the studio would release no more "propaganda pictures" and promptly ordered the shelving of several projects with an anti-Nazi theme.<ref name="cepeng310">Ceplair and Englund (1980), p. 310.</ref> In time, however, Warner Bros. produced more films with anti-Nazi messages, including ''[[Underground (1941 film)|Underground]]'' and ''[[All Through the Night (film)|All Through the Night]]''. In 1940, the studio produced short films that dramatically documented the devastation wrought by the German bombing raids on [[London]]. Meanwhile, the studio celebrated the exploits of the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] with films such as ''[[Captains of the Clouds]]''.<ref name="Thomas130">Thomas (1990), p. 130.</ref> In 1941, Warner also produced the influential war film ''[[Sergeant York (film)|Sergeant York]]''.<ref name="sperling246">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 246.</ref>

Contemporary reports that Jack had banned the use of the [[German language]] throughout the company's studios were denied by studio representatives who indicated that this move would have prevented scores of studio employees from communicating with each other.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114112344/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,764049,00.html "Hollywood & War."] ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. June 10, 1940.</ref>

After the American declaration of war against the [[Axis Powers]], Jack, like some other studio heads, was commissioned as a [[lieutenant colonel]] in the [[U.S. Army Air Corps]].<ref name="Thomas130132">Thomas (1990), pp. 130–132.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/1stmpu.html |title=1st Motion Picture Unit |publisher=Militarymuseum.org |access-date=November 28, 2010 |archive-date=February 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223134945/http://www.militarymuseum.org/1stmpu.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1943 the studio's film ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' won the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]]. When the award was announced, Wallis got up to accept, only to find Jack had rushed onstage "with a broad, flashing smile and a look of great self-satisfaction" to take the trophy, Wallis later recalled. "I couldn't believe it was happening. ''Casablanca'' had been my creation; Jack had absolutely nothing to do with it. As the audience gasped, I tried to get out of the row of seats and into the aisle, but the entire Warner family sat blocking me. I had no alternative but to sit down again, humiliated and furious.&nbsp;... Almost forty years later, I still haven't recovered from the shock."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/791 |title=''Casablanca'': The Unexpected Classic |author=Ronald Haver |publisher=The Criterion Collection Online Cinematheque |access-date=January 8, 2010 |author-link=Ronald Haver |archive-date=June 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629120246/http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/791 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Also in 1943, Jack, at the advice of President Roosevelt, produced a film adaptation of the controversial book ''[[Mission to Moscow]]'',<ref name="Thomas146">Thomas (1990), p. 146.</ref> a film intended to inspire public support of the uneasy military alliance between the U.S. and the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>Buhle and Wagner (2002), p. 240.</ref> Later, while testifying before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC) on October 27, 1947,<ref name="sperling272">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 272</ref> Jack dismissed allegations during the [[Cold War]] that this film was subversive, and he argued that ''Mission to Moscow'' was produced "only to help a desperate war effort, and not for posterity."<ref>Buhle and Wagner (2002), p. 241.</ref> After the film's lackluster response under distribution, the [[Republican National Committee]] accused him of producing "New Deal propaganda."<ref name="Thomas147">Thomas (1990), p. 147.</ref>

In line with the Warner brothers' early opposition to Nazism, Warner Bros. produced more pictures about the war than any other studio, covering every branch of the armed services.<ref name="Thomas132">Thomas (1990), p. 132.</ref> In addition, the studio produced patriotic musicals such as ''[[This Is the Army]]'' and ''[[Yankee Doodle Dandy]]''.<ref name="Thomas132"/>

===Postwar era===
Warner responded grudgingly to the rising popularity of television in the late 1940s.<ref name="thomas190">Thomas (1990), p. 190.</ref> Initially he tried to compete with the new medium, introducing gimmicks such as [[3-D films]], which soon lost their appeal among moviegoers.<ref name="thomas191">Thomas (1990), p. 191.</ref> In 1954, Warner finally engaged the new medium, providing [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] with a weekly show, ''[[Warner Bros. Presents]]''.<ref name="thomas192">Thomas (1990), p. 192.</ref> The studio followed up with a series of [[Western (genre)|Western]] dramas, such as ''[[Maverick (TV series)|Maverick]]'', ''[[Bronco (TV series)|Bronco]]'', and ''[[Colt .45 (TV series)|Colt .45]]''.<ref name="thomas194">Thomas (1990), p. 194.</ref> Accustomed to dealing with actors in a high-handed manner, within a few years Jack provoked hostility among emerging TV stars such as [[James Garner]], who filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over a contract dispute.<ref name="thomas196-198">Thomas (1990), pp. 196–198.</ref> Warner was angered by the perceived ingratitude of television actors, who evidently showed more independence than film actors, and this deepened his contempt for the new medium.<ref name="thomas199">Thomas (1990), p. 199.</ref> Following his deal with ABC, Warner also made his son, Jack Jr., head of the company's new [[Warner Bros. Television|television department]].<ref name="sperling291">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 291.</ref>

[[File:Warner Brothers Presents.png|thumb|The "Warner Bros. Present[s]" title card from the first wave of color cartoons in the "Looney Tunes" series of cartoon shorts, from October 1942 until May 1947.]]
During this period, Warner showed little foresight in his treatment of the studio's [[Warner Bros. Cartoons|cartoon operation]]. Animated characters such as [[Bugs Bunny]], [[Daffy Duck]], and [[Porky Pig]], while embraced by cartoon lovers, "were always stepchildren at Warner Bros."<ref name="thomas211">Thomas (1990), p. 211.</ref> As biographer Bob Thomas wrote, "Jack Warner...considered cartoons no more than an extraneous service provided to exhibitors who wanted a full program for their customers."<ref name="thomas211"/> In 1953, during a rare meeting between the Warners and the studio's cartoon makers, Jack confessed that he didn't "even know where the hell the cartoon studio is", and Harry added, "The only thing I know is that we make [[Mickey Mouse]]," a reference to the flagship character of a competing company, [[Walt Disney Productions]].<ref name="thomas211-212">Thomas (1990), pp. 211–212.</ref> Several years later, Jack sold all of the 400 cartoons Warner Bros. made before 1948 for $3,000 apiece. As Thomas noted, "They have since earned millions, but not for Warner Bros."<ref name="thomas212">Thomas (1990), p. 212.</ref>

Jack's tumultuous relationship with his brother Harry worsened in February 1956, when Harry learned of Jack's decision to sell Warner Bros.' pre-1950 films to [[Associated Artists Productions]] (soon to merge with [[United Artists Television]]) for the modest sum of $21&nbsp;million.<ref name="thomas225">Thomas (1990), p. 225.</ref><ref name="ymrt">Schickel and Perry (2008), p. 255.</ref> "This is our heritage, what we worked all our lives to create, and now it is gone," Harry exclaimed, upon hearing of the deal.<ref name="thomas225"/> The breach between Jack and Harry widened later that year. In July 1956, Jack, Harry, and Albert announced that they were putting Warner Bros. on the market.<ref name="thomas226">Thomas (1990), p. 226.</ref>  Jack, however, secretly organized a [[syndicate]] that purchased control of the company.<ref name="sperling303">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 303.</ref> By the time Harry and Albert learned of their brother's dealings, it was too late.<ref name="thomas226"/> Jack, as the company's largest [[stockholder]], appointed himself as the new company president.<ref name="sperling306">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 306.</ref> Shortly after the deal was closed, he announced that the company and its subsidiaries would be "directed more vigorously to the acquisition of the most important story properties, talents, and to the production of the finest motion pictures possible".<ref name="vindy-07-12-56">
{{cite news
  | title = 2 Warners Sell Most of Stock in Film Firm: Harry and Albert Dispose of Shares to Banker; Jack to Be President
  | author = The United Press
  | work = The Youngstown Vindicator
  | date = July 12, 1956
| page = 22
}}</ref>

The two brothers had often argued, and earlier in the decade, studio employees claimed they saw Harry chase Jack through the studio with a lead pipe, shouting, "I'll get you for this, you son of a bitch" and threatening to kill him.<ref name="sperling283">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 283.</ref> This subterfuge, however, proved too much for Harry. He never spoke to Jack again.<ref name="thomas226"/> When Harry died on July 27, 1958, Jack did not attend the funeral, and he departed for his annual vacation at [[Antibes|Cap d'Antibes]].<ref name="sperling313">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 313.</ref> Asked to respond to his brother's death, he said, "I didn't give a shit about Harry."<ref name="thomas226-227">Thomas (1990), pp. 226–227.</ref> At the same time, Jack took pride in the fact that President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] sent him a letter of condolence.<ref name="thomas226-227" />

===The Sixties===
In the 1960s, Warner kept pace with rapid changes in the industry and played a key role in developing films that were commercial and critical successes. In February 1962, he purchased the [[My Fair Lady (film)|film rights]] for the Broadway musical ''[[My Fair Lady]]'', paying an unprecedented $6.5 million. The previous owner, [[CBS]] director [[William S. Paley]] set terms that included fifty percent of the distributor's gross profits "plus ownership of the negative at the end of the contract."<ref name="thomas259">Thomas (1990), p. 259.</ref> Despite the "outrageous" purchase price, and the ungenerous terms of the contract, the deal proved lucrative for Warner Bros., securing the studio $12 million in profits. Warner was criticized for choosing a non-singing star, [[Audrey Hepburn]], to play the leading role of [[Eliza Doolittle]]; indeed, the 1964 [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] went to [[Julie Andrews]], who had played Eliza in both the Broadway and London productions of the musical, for ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'', while Hepburn wasn't even nominated. However, the film won the [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] Oscar for 1964.<ref name="thomas262-263">Thomas (1990), pp. 262–263.</ref>

In 1965, Warner surprised many industry observers when he purchased the rights to ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'', [[Edward Albee]]'s searing play about a destructive marriage.<ref name="thomas266-267">Thomas (1990), pp. 266–267.</ref> From the beginning, the project was beset by controversy. [[Ernest Lehman]]'s script, which was extremely faithful to Albee's play, stretched the U.S. film industry's [[United States Motion Picture Production Code of 1930|Production Code]] to the limit.<ref name="thomas270">Thomas (1990), p. 270.</ref> [[Jack Valenti]], who had just assumed leadership of the [[Motion Picture Association of America]], recalled that a meeting with Warner and studio aide Ben Kalmenson left him "uneasy".<ref name="coreyochoa216">Corey and Ochoa (2002), p. 216.</ref> "I was uncomfortable with the thought that this was just the beginning of an unsettling new era in film, in which we would lurch from crisis to crisis without any suitable solution in sight," Valenti wrote.<ref name="coreyochoa216"/> Meanwhile, Lehman and the film's director, [[Mike Nichols]], battled with studio executives and exhibitors who insisted that the film be shot in color rather than black and white.<ref name="thomas271">Thomas (1990), p. 271.</ref> These controversies soon faded into the background while Warner challenged the validity of the Production Code by publicly requiring theaters showing the film to post an "adults only" label and restrict ticket sales accordingly, all as a marketing tease to entice audiences to see what warranted that restriction. At this, the MPAA — wary of a repeat of the embarrassment it had trying to censor the highly acclaimed film ''[[The Pawnbroker (film)|The Pawnbroker]]'' — gave in and approved the film as a special exception because of its quality, which led other filmmakers to challenge the Code themselves even more aggressively.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Mark|title=Pictures at a Revolution: Five Films and the Birth of The New Hollywood|year=2008|publisher=The Penguin Press|pages=183–84}}</ref> Upon its release, ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' was embraced by audiences and critics alike. It secured thirteen nominations from the Academy, including one for Best Picture of 1966.<ref name="thomas278">Thomas (1990), p. 278.</ref>

Despite these achievements, Warner grew weary of making films, and he sold a substantial amount of his studio stock to [[Seven Arts Productions]] on November 14, 1966.<ref>Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 326.</ref> Some observers believed that Ben Kalmenson, Warner Bros.' executive vice president, persuaded Warner to sell his stock so that Kalmenson could assume leadership of the studio.<ref name="thomas280">Thomas (1990), p. 280.</ref>  Warner, however, had personal reasons for seeking retirement. His wife, Ann, continually pressured him to "slow down", and the aging studio head felt a need to put his affairs in order.<ref name="thomas280"/> He sold his 1.6&nbsp;million shares of studio stock shortly after producing the [[Camelot (film)|film adaptation]] of [[Lerner & Loewe]]'s ''Camelot''.<ref name="thomas279">Thomas (1990), p. 279.</ref> The sale yielded, after capital gains taxes, about $24&nbsp;million<ref name="Thomas3">Thomas (1990), p. 3.</ref> (equivalent to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|24|1967}}}} million today). Eight months after the sale, Warner quipped, "Who would ever have thought that a butcher boy from Youngstown, Ohio, would end up with twenty-four million smackers in his pocket?"<ref name="Thomas3"/> At the time of the sale, he had earned the distinction of being the second production chief to also serve as company president, after [[Columbia Pictures]]' Harry Cohn.

Warner's decision to sell came at a time when he was losing the formidable power that he once took for granted. He had already survived the dislocations of the 1950s, when other studio heads – including Mayer, [[David O. Selznick]], and [[Samuel Goldwyn]] – were pushed out by stockholders who "sought scapegoats for dwindling profits".<ref name="friedman139">Friedman (1982), p. 139.</ref> Structural changes that occurred in the industry during this period ensured that studios would become "more important as backers of independent producers than as creators of their own films", a situation that left little room for the traditional movie mogul.<ref name="friedman139" /> By the mid-1960s, most of the film moguls from the [[Golden Age of Hollywood]] had died, and Warner was regarded as one of the last of a dying breed. Evidence of his eroding control at Warner Bros. included his failure to block production of the controversial but highly influential film ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]'', a project he initially "hated".<ref name="thomas280-281">Thomas (1990), pp. 280–281.</ref> Similarly, as producer of the film adaptation of ''Camelot'', he was unable to persuade director [[Joshua Logan]] to cast [[Richard Burton]] and [[Julie Andrews]] in the leading roles. Instead, Logan selected [[Richard Harris]] and [[Vanessa Redgrave]], a move that contributed to the project's critical –  and commercial – failure.<ref name="thomas285-286">Thomas (1990), pp. 285–286.</ref> Another factor was that Logan was able to manipulate Warner's ego to persuade him from cutting the screenplay's length, despite the fact that the studio executives had already agreed with the film's unofficial producer, Joel Freeman, that it was overlong.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Mark|title=Pictures at a Revolution|year=2008|pages=191–2}}</ref> Warner officially retired from the studio in 1969.<ref>Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 332.</ref>

===After Warner Bros.===
Warner remained active as an independent producer until the early 1970s to run some of the company's distributions and exhibition division.<ref name="sperling332-334">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 332–334.</ref> Among his last productions was a film adaptation of a Broadway musical, ''[[1776 (film)|1776]]'', which was released through Columbia Pictures.<ref name="Thomas295-300">Thomas (1990), pp. 295–300.</ref> Before the film's release, Warner showed a preview cut to President [[Richard Nixon]], who recommended substantial changes, including the removal of the song 'Cool, Cool, Considerate Men' that struck him as veiled criticisms of the ongoing [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="thomas299">Thomas (1990), p. 299.</ref> Without consulting the film's director, [[Peter H. Hunt]], Warner ordered the film re-edited.<ref name="thomas299"/> The cuts have since been restored in most television showings and in the film's [[DVD]] release.

In November 1972, the film opened to enthusiastic audiences at [[Radio City Music Hall]], but it fared poorly in theaters.<ref name="thomas299"/> Faced with a polarized political climate, few Americans were drawn to "a cheery exercise in prerepublic civics".<ref name="thomas299-300">Thomas (1990), pp. 299–300.</ref> Warner's efforts to promote the film were sometimes counterproductive; during an interview with talk show host [[Merv Griffin]], the elderly producer engaged in a lengthy tirade against "[[pinko]] communists". This would become his only television interview.<ref name="thomas303"/>

==Personal life==
On October 14, 1914, Warner married Irma Claire Salomon, the daughter of Sam Salomon and Bertha Franklin Salomon from one of San Francisco's pioneer Jewish families.<ref>Slight variations in the spelling of Irma Warner's maiden name can be found in different sources; however, her son's (Jack M. Warner's) birth record in [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V258-Q8G "The California Birth Index, 1905–1995"]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} lists the spelling of her name as "Salomon". Content of original record from the Vital Statistics Department of the California Department of Health Services in Sacramento, California, is available at [[FamilySearch]]. Retrieved August 8, 2017.</ref> Irma gave birth to the couple's only child, [[Jack M. Warner]], on March 27, 1916. Jack Sr. named the child after himself, disregarding an Eastern European Jewish custom that children should not be named after living relatives. Although his son bore a different middle initial, he "has been called Junior all his life".<ref name="thomas29-30">Thomas (1990), pp. 29–30.</ref>

Warner's first marriage ended in 1935, when he left his wife for another woman, Ann Page, with whom he had a daughter named Barbara. (1934-2022)<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/06/obituaries/jack-m-warner-film-producer-79.html | work=The New York Times | title=Jack M. Warner, Film Producer, 79 | date=April 6, 1995 | access-date=February 16, 2017 | archive-date=February 15, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215051013/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/06/obituaries/jack-m-warner-film-producer-79.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="thomas338">Thomas (1990), p. 338.</ref> Irma sued her husband for divorce on the grounds of desertion. Harry Warner reflected the family's feelings about the marriage when he exclaimed, "Thank God our mother didn't live to see this". Jack married Ann after the divorce. The Warners, who took Irma's side in the affair, refused to accept Ann as a family member.<ref name="thomas102-103">Thomas (1990), pp. 102–103.</ref> In the wake of this falling out, Warner's relationship with his son, Jack Jr., also became strained.<ref name="thomas229-230">Thomas (1990), pp. 229–230.</ref>

In the late 1950s, Warner was almost killed in a car accident that left him in a [[coma]] for several days. On August 5, 1958, after an evening of [[Baccarat (card game)|baccarat]] at the Palm Beach Casino in [[Cannes]], his [[Alfa Romeo]] [[roadster (automobile)|roadster]] swerved into the path of a coal truck on a stretch of road located near the seaside villa of [[Prince Aly Khan]].<ref name="vindy-08-05-58">
{{cite news
  | title = Jack Warner Injured Badly in Auto Crash
  | agency = Associated Press
  | work = The Youngstown Vindicator
  | date = August 5, 1958
}}</ref> Warner was thrown from the car, which burst into flames upon impact. Shortly after the accident, Jack Jr. joined other family members in France, where the unconscious studio head was hospitalized. In an interview with reporters, Jack Jr. suggested that his father was dying. Then, during a visit to his father's hospital room, the young man offended Ann, whom he largely blamed for his parents' divorce.<ref name="sperling215">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 215.</ref> When Warner regained consciousness, he was enraged by reports of his son's behavior and their "tenuous" relationship came to an end.<ref name="thomas228-229">Thomas (1990), pp. 228–229.</ref> On December 30, 1958, Jack Jr. was informed, by Jack Sr.'s lawyer Arnold Grant, that the elder Warner had released him from the company.<ref name="sperling321">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 321.</ref> When he attempted to report for work, studio guards denied him entry.<ref name="thomas230">Thomas (1990), p. 230.</ref> The two men never achieved a reconciliation, and Jack Jr. is not mentioned in his father's 1964 autobiography.<ref name="thomas249">Thomas (1990), p. 249.</ref>

Warner made no pretense of faithfulness to his second wife, Ann, and kept a series of mistresses throughout the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name="thomas248">Thomas (1990), p. 248.</ref><ref>[[Sherman, Robert B.]] "Hi Jack!" in ''[[Moose: Chapters From My Life]],'' pp. 322–323.</ref> The most enduring of these "girlfriends" was an aspiring actress named [[Jacquelyn Park]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/0%7C76842/jacqueline-park | title=Jacqueline Park }}</ref>) (née Mary Scarborough<ref name="isbn=978-0-8129-8793-5">{{cite book |last1=Stein |first1=Jean |author1-link=Jean Stein |title=West of Eden: An American Place |date=21 February 2017 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8129-8793-5 |language=en}}</ref>),<ref name="sfgate/3006084">{{cite news |last1=Carroll |first1=Jerry |title=FRANK SINATRA 1915-1998 / Swooning and Swinging / With four wives, countless lovers, Sinatra's passion for women was legendary |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/FRANK-SINATRA-1915-1998-Swooning-and-Swinging-3006084.php |access-date=13 September 2023 |work=sf gate |date=May 16, 1998}}</ref><ref name="wsj/1454705855">{{cite news |last1=Kosner |first1=Edward |title=The Golden Age of Hollywood Gossip |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-golden-age-of-hollywood-gossiploreof-l-a-1454705855 |access-date=13 September 2023 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=5 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="solzyatthemovies/jack-warner-tcm">{{cite web |last1=Solzman |first1=Danielle |title=Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul Premieres On TCM |url=https://www.solzyatthemovies.com/2023/04/02/jack-l-warner-the-last-mogul-premieres-on-tcm/ |website=Solzy at the Movies |access-date=13 September 2023 |language=en-us |date=2 April 2023}}</ref> who bore a "startling" resemblance to his second wife.<ref name="thomas246">Thomas (1990), p. 246.</ref> The relationship was in its fourth year when Ann pressed her husband to terminate the affair.<ref name="thomas248"/> Park later tried to publish her memoirs describing the affair, but nothing materialized.<ref name="Jumping">{{cite web|url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/912/Jacquelyn+Park%22+Hollywood%27s+Controversial+Actress/index.html|title=Jacquelyn Park: Hollywood's Controversial Actress|author=Samuel Claesson|date=March 31, 2023|website=Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308231810/http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/912/Jacquelyn+Park|archive-date=March 8, 2024|url-status=dead|access-date=March 8, 2024}}</ref>

Although Ann did once have an affair with studio actor [[Eddie Albert]] in 1941, she was much more devoted to the marriage.<ref name="HBTJHYNA308294">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 242.</ref> In the 1960s, she insisted that, despite his reputation for ruthlessness, Warner had a softer side. In a note to author Dean Jennings, who assisted Jack on his 1964 autobiography, ''My First Hundred Years in Hollywood'', Ann wrote: "He is extremely sensitive, but there are few who know that because he covers it with a cloak."<ref name="thomas210-211">Thomas (1990), pp. 210–211.</ref>

In 1937, Warner bought a mansion in [[Beverly Hills]] that he would develop into the later named [[Jack Warner Estate]]. After his death in 1978, Ann, his widow, lived there until her death in 1990.

==Political views==
An "ardent Republican", Warner nevertheless supported President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal in the early 1930s.<ref name="bw59"/> Later in the decade, he made common cause with opponents of Nazi Germany. In 1947, however, he served as a "friendly witness" for the HUAC, thereby lending support to allegations of a "Red" infiltration of Hollywood.<ref name="bw377-8"/> Warner felt that communists were responsible for the studio's month-long [[labor strike|strike]] that occurred in the fall of 1946,<ref name="W273">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 273.</ref> and on his own initiative he provided the names of a dozen screenwriters who were dismissed because of suspected communist sympathies, a move that effectively destroyed their careers.<ref name="thomas165">Thomas (1990), p. 165.</ref> Former studio employees named by Warner included [[Alvah Cecil Bessie|Alvah Bessie]], [[Howard Koch (screenwriter)|Howard Koch]], [[Ring Lardner Jr.]], [[John Howard Lawson]], [[Albert Maltz]], [[Robert Rossen]], [[Dalton Trumbo]], [[Clifford Odets]], and [[Irwin Shaw]].<ref name="cepeng279-280">Ceplair and Englund (1980), pp. 279–280.</ref> As one biographer observed, Warner "was furious when [[Humphrey Bogart]], [[Lauren Bacall]], [[Paul Henreid]] and [[John Huston]] joined other members of the stellar [[Committee for the First Amendment]] in a flight to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] to preach against the threat to free expression".<ref name="thomas165"/> Lester D. Friedman noted that Warner's response to the HUAC hearings was similar to other Jewish studio heads who "feared that a blanket equation of Communists with Jews would destroy them and their industry".<ref name="friedman141">Friedman (1982), p. 141.</ref>

Warner publicly supported Richard Nixon during the [[United States presidential election, 1960|1960 presidential election]] and paid for full-page ads in ''[[The New York Times]]'' "to proclaim why Nixon should be elected".<ref name="thomas237">Thomas (1990), p. 237.</ref> In the wake of Nixon's loss to [[John F. Kennedy]], however, the studio head made arrangements to attend a fundraiser at the [[Hollywood Palladium]] in honor of the president-elect.<ref name="thomas237"/> Several weeks later, Warner received a phone call from the new chief executive's father, [[Joseph P. Kennedy]], and within a short time, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights for Robert Donovan's book, ''[[PT 109 (film)|PT 109]]'', a bestseller concerning John Kennedy's exploits during World War II.<ref name="thomas238">Thomas (1990), p. 238.</ref>  "I don't think President Kennedy would object to my friendship with Dick Nixon," Warner said later. "I would have voted for both of them if I could. You might think this is a form of fence-straddling, but I love everybody."<ref name="Warner326">Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 326.</ref> In the late 1960s, he emerged as an outspoken proponent of the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="thomas303">Thomas (1990), p. 303.</ref>

==Death and legacy==
By the end of 1973, those closest to Warner became aware of signs that he was becoming disoriented.<ref name="thomas303"/> Shortly after losing his way in the building that housed his office, Warner retired.<ref name="thomas304">Thomas (1990), p. 304.</ref> In 1974, Warner suffered a [[stroke]] that left him blind and enfeebled. During the next several years, he gradually lost the ability to speak and became unresponsive to friends and relatives.<ref name="thomas304-305">Thomas (1990), pp. 304–305.</ref> Finally, on August 13, 1978, Warner was admitted to [[Cedars-Sinai Medical Center|Cedars-Sinai Hospital]], where he died of a heart inflammation (''[[edema]]'') on September 9.<ref name="vindy-yo-09-11-78"/> He was 86 years old.<ref name="thomas305">Thomas (1990), p. 305.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Arnold|first=Gary|date=September 11, 1978|title=Jack Warner, Last of First-Generation Movie Tycoons, Dies|language=en-US|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/09/11/jack-warner-last-of-first-generation-movie-tycoons-dies/d459d4b8-14ab-488d-824b-2ecb2f6093b7/|access-date=May 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102064346/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/09/11/jack-warner-last-of-first-generation-movie-tycoons-dies/d459d4b8-14ab-488d-824b-2ecb2f6093b7/|archive-date=November 2, 2020|issn=0190-8286|url-status=dead}}</ref> A funeral service was held at the [[Wilshire Boulevard Temple]], the [[synagogue]] to which many members of the Warner family belonged.<ref name="sperling206">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), ps. 206, 313.</ref><ref name="sperling334"/> He was interred at [[Home of Peace Cemetery (East Los Angeles)|Home of Peace Cemetery]] in [[East Los Angeles, California]].<ref name="sperling334">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 334.</ref>

Warner left behind an estate estimated at $15&nbsp;million.<ref name="thomas306">Thomas (1990), p. 306.</ref> Much of the Warner estate, including property and memorabilia, was bequeathed to his widow, Ann. However, Warner also left $200,000 to his estranged son, Jack Jr., perhaps in an effort to discourage him from contesting the [[last will and testament|will]].<ref name="thomas306"/> In the days following his death, newspaper obituaries recounted the familiar story of "the four brothers who left the family butcher shop for [[nickelodeon (movie theater)|nickelodeon]]s" and went on to revolutionize American cinema.<ref name="thomas307">Thomas (1990), p. 307.</ref> A front-page story in Warner's adopted hometown of Youngstown featured accounts of the family's pre-Hollywood struggles in Ohio, describing how Warner drove a wagon for his father's business when he was only seven years old.<ref name="vindy-yo-09-11-78"/> The late movie mogul was widely eulogized for his role in "shaping Hollywood's 'Golden Age'".<ref name="vindy-yo-09-11-78"/>

Several months after Warner's death, a more personal tribute was organized by the Friends of the Libraries at the [[University of Southern California]].<ref name="thomas307"/> The event, called "The Colonel: An Affectionate Remembrance of Jack L. Warner", drew Hollywood notables such as entertainers [[Olivia de Havilland]] and [[Debbie Reynolds]], and cartoon voice actor [[Mel Blanc]].<ref name="thomas308">Thomas (1990), p. 308.</ref> Blanc closed the event with a rendition of [[Porky Pig]]'s famous farewell, "A-bee-a-bee-a-bee–that's all, folks."<ref name="thomas308"/> In recognition of his contributions to the motion picture industry, Warner was accorded a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], located at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard.<ref name="hollywoodusa">{{cite web | url = http://www.hollywoodusa.co.uk/walkoffamestarlocations.htm | title = Hollywood Walk of Fame | publisher = Hollywoodusa | access-date = February 22, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120607064511/http://www.hollywoodusa.co.uk/walkoffamestarlocations.htm | archive-date = June 7, 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref>  He is also represented on [[Canada's Walk of Fame]] (where he was inducted in 2004) in [[Toronto]], which honours outstanding Canadians from all fields.<ref name="canadafame">{{cite web | url = http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/04_jack_warner.xml.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071007224323/http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/04_jack_warner.xml.htm | archive-date=October 7, 2007 | title = Jack Warner | publisher = Canada's Walk of Fame | access-date = August 24, 2008}}</ref>

Warner is portrayed by [[Richard Dysart]] in ''Bogie'' (1980), [[Michael Lerner (actor)|Michael Lerner]] in ''This Year's Blonde'' (1980), [[Jason Wingreen]] in ''[[Malice in Wonderland (1985 film)|Malice in Wonderland]]'' (1985), [[Mike Connors]] in ''James Dean: Race with Destiny'' (1997), [[Tim Woodward]] in ''[[RKO 281]]'' (1999), Len Kaserman in ''[[The Three Stooges (2000 film)|The Three Stooges]]'' (2000), Richard M. Davidson in ''[[Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows]]'' (2001), [[Mark Rydell]] in ''[[James Dean (2001 film)|James Dean]]'' (2001), [[Danny Wells]] in ''[[Gleason (2002 film)|Gleason]]'' (2002), Barry Langrishe in ''[[The Mystery of Natalie Wood]]'' (2004), [[Ben Kingsley]] in ''[[Life (2015 film)|Life]]'' (2015), [[Stanley Tucci]] in ''[[Feud (TV series)|Feud]]'' (2017) and [[Kevin Dillon]] in ''[[Reagan (2024 film)|Reagan]]'' (2024).

==See also==
* [[Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood]]

==Source citations and notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Behlmer, Rudy (1985). ''Inside Warner Bros. (1935–1951)''. New York: Viking Press. {{ISBN|0-670-80478-9}}
* Buhle, Paul; Wagner, Dave (2002). ''Radical Hollywood: The Untold Story Behind America's Favorite Movies''. New York: The New Press. {{ISBN|1-56584-718-0}}
* Ceplair, Larry; Englund, Steven (1980). ''The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930–1960.'' Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/ Doubleday. {{ISBN|0-385-12900-9}}
* Corey, Melinda; Ochoa, George (2002). ''The American Film Institute Desk Reference''. New York: Dorling Kindersley Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7894-8934-1}}
* David, Saul (1981). ''The Industry: Life in the Hollywood Fast Lane''. New York: Times Books.  {{ISBN|0-8129-0971-2}}
* Dick, Bernard F. (1985). ''The Star-Spangled Screen: The American World War II Film''. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. {{ISBN|0-8131-1531-0}}
* Friedman, Lester D. (1982). ''Hollywood's Image of the Jew''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. {{ISBN|0-8044-2219-2}}
* {{Cite book
 | title=[[An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood]]
 | publisher=Crown
 | year=1988
 | isbn=0-385-26557-3
 | first=Neal
 | last=Gabler
 | author-link=Neal Gabler
}}
* Schatz, Thomas (1988). ''The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era''. New York: Pantheon Books. {{ISBN|0-394-53979-6}}
* [[Richard Schickel|Schickel, Richard]]; Perry, George (2008). ''You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story''. Philadelphia: Running Press. {{ISBN|0-7624-3418-X}}
* Sperling, Cass Warner; Millner, Cork; Warner, Jack Jr. (1998). ''Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story''. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. {{ISBN|0-8131-0958-2}}
* Thomas, Bob (1990). ''Clown Prince of Hollywood: The Antic Life and Times of Jack L. Warner''. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. {{ISBN|0-07-064259-1}}
* Warner, Jack; Jennings, Dean (1964). ''My First Hundred Years in Hollywood: An Autobiography ''. New York: Random Books

{{featured article}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{IMDb name}}

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{{Academy Award Best Picture Producers}}
{{Cecil B. DeMille Award 1952–1975}}
{{Thalberg Award}}
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