Oscar Deutsch | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1893-08-12)August 12, 1893 |
| Died | December 5, 1941(1941-12-05) (aged 48) |
| Education | King Edward VI Five Ways Grammar School |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Founder ofOdeon Cinemas |
| Spouse | Lily Deutsch |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Arnold Deutsch (cousin) |
Oscar Deutsch (12 August 1893 – 5 December 1941) was a Britishbusinessman, cinema owner and founder ofOdeon Cinemas.[1][2]
Oscar Deutsch was born inBalsall Heath,Birmingham on 12 August 1893, to Leopold Deutsch (c.1866–1904) and Leah Deutsch, née Cohen (1868–1925).[3][4][5][6] His father, born to aHungarian Jewish family inBeckov,Austria-Hungary (present-daySlovakia), was ascrap metalmerchant.[3][4][5] His mother was born inBirmingham to aPolish Jewish family fromPłock,Russian Empire (present-dayPoland).[7][8][9]
Deutsch was educated atKing Edward VI Five Ways Grammar School, and upon leaving school worked at his father's metal firm in Birmingham. In 1918, he married Lily Deutsch and went on to have three sons.
In 1925, he rented cinemas inWolverhampton andCoventry and started exhibiting subsequent runs of films.[10][11] He opened his firstcinema in nearbyBrierley Hill,Dudley in 1928. By 1933 he had 26 Odeons and "Odeon" had started to become a household word, used interchangeably with "cinema" in some parts of the UK until after theSecond World War.
By 1937 there were 250 Odeons, including the flagship cinema inLeicester Square,London, making Odeon one of the three major circuits in the UK. Odeon cinemas were considered more comfortable and respectable for middle-class filmgoers than those of the two other circuits,Associated British Cinemas (ABC) andGaumont-British Cinemas.[citation needed]. Odeons were known for theirart deco architecture, first used on theOdeon, Kingstanding to a design byCecil Clavering, working forHarry Weedon. Clavering only designed three further Odeons, atSutton Coldfield,Colwyn Bay andScarborough, "one masterpiece after the other"[12] considered "the finest expressions of the Odeon circuit style".[13] Later in 1935, however, Clavering stunned Weedon by resigning to take up a job with theOffice of Works. Weedon approached Clavering's former tutor who recommended Robert Bullivant as Clavering's replacement[14] and Weedon was commissioned by Deutsch to oversee the design of the entire chain.
Deutsch became a director of the UK arm ofUnited Artists, who had acquired a 50% stake in Odeon Cinema Holdings.[11]
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He was from 1932 to 1940 President of Birmingham's main Synagogue,Singers Hill.[15][16] In 1939, the Synagogue was extended by Harry Weedon.[15]
In 1941, a bomb landed on his home and he was blown out of bed and never recovered.[11] Deutsch died ofcancer atThe London Clinic on the 5 December 1941.[17][18]Following Deutsch's death Lily Deutsch sold the Odeon chain toJ. Arthur Rank and theRank Organisation.[18]
Theoriginal Odeons were the popular amphitheatres of ancient Greece. The name Odeon had been appropriated by cinemas in France and Italy in the 1920s,[citation needed] but Deutsch made it his own in the UK. His publicity team claimed Odeon stood for "Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation".[citation needed]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)With Weedon in Deutsch's stride, the Odeon chain produced one masterpiece after the other: Sutton Coldfield, Scarborough, Colwyn Bay
The exteriors of the Kingstanding and Sutton Coldfield Odeons were the finest expressions of the Odeon circuit style ... However, the style that Clavering had so brilliantly established was gradually coarsened and diluted in the later Weedon output - excepting the Odeon Harrogate, a replica of Sutton Coldfield[dead link]
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