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| Industry | Motion pictures |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 8, 1912; 113 years ago (1912-05-08) |
| Founder | Adolph Zukor |
| Defunct | 1916; 110 years ago (1916) |
| Fate | Corporate merger |
| Successors | Famous Players–Lasky Paramount Pictures |
| Headquarters | , United States |
TheFamous Players Film Company was an American film company founded inNew York City in 1912 byAdolph Zukor in partnership with theFrohman brothers, powerfultheatre owners and producers there.
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| 1886 | Westinghouse Electric Corporation is founded as Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company |
|---|---|
| 1912 | Famous Players Film Company is founded |
| 1913 | Lasky Feature Play Company is founded |
| 1914 | Paramount Pictures is founded |
| 1916 | Famous Players and Lasky merge asFamous Players–Lasky and acquire Paramount |
| 1927 | Famous Players–Lasky is renamed Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation;CBS is founded with investment fromColumbia Records |
| 1929 | Paramount acquires 49% of CBS |
| 1930 | Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation is renamed Paramount Publix Corporation |
| 1932 | Paramount sells back its shares of CBS |
| 1934 | Gulf+Western is founded as the Michigan Bumper Corporation |
| 1935 | Paramount Publix Corporation is renamed Paramount Pictures |
| 1936 | National Amusements is founded as Northeast Theater Corporation |
| 1938 | CBS acquires Columbia Records |
| 1950 | Desilu is founded and CBS distributes its television programs |
| 1952 | CBS creates the CBS Television Film Sales division |
| 1958 | CBS Television Film Sales is renamed CBS Films |
| 1966 | Gulf+Western acquires Paramount |
| 1967 | Gulf+Western acquires Desilu and renames itParamount Television (nowCBS Studios) |
| 1968 | CBS Films is renamed CBS Enterprises |
| 1970 | CBS Enterprises is renamedViacom |
| 1971 | Viacom is spun off from CBS |
| 1987 | National Amusements acquires Viacom |
| 1988 | CBS sells Columbia Records toSony |
| 1989 | Gulf+Western is renamedParamount Communications |
| 1994 | Viacom acquires Paramount Communications |
| 1995 | Paramount Television andUnited Television launchUPN; Westinghouse acquires CBS |
| 1997 | Westinghouse is renamedCBS Corporation |
| 2000 | Viacom acquires UPN and CBS Corporation |
| 2005 | Viacomsplits into the secondCBS Corporation andViacom |
| 2006 | Skydance Media is founded as Skydance Productions; CBS Corporationshuts down UPN and replaces it withThe CW |
| 2009 | Paramount and Skydance enter an agreement to co-produce and co-finance films |
| 2017 | CBS Corporation sellsCBS Radio to Entercom (nowAudacy) |
| 2019 | CBS Corporation and Viacomre-merge as ViacomCBS |
| 2022 | ViacomCBS is renamedParamount Global |
| 2025 | Skydance acquires National Amusements andmerges with Paramount Global asParamount Skydance |
Discussions to form the company were held atThe Lambs, a famous theater club where Charles and Daniel Frohman were members.[citation needed] The company advertised "Famous Players in Famous Plays" and its first release was the French filmLes Amours de la reine Élisabeth (1912) starringSarah Bernhardt andLou Tellegen. Its first actual production wasThe Count of Monte Cristo (1912, released 1913), directed byJoseph A. Golden andEdwin S. Porter and starringJames O'Neill, the father of dramatistEugene O'Neill.
In 1914, the company purchased the former headquarters of New York City's Ninth Mounted Cavalry unit at 221 West 26th Street inManhattan.[1] The cavernous brick building made excellent filming space for Zukor, and the modernized site is still used today asChelsea Television Studios.[1]
Hiring its performers straight from the Broadway stage, Famous Players had an early roster of some of the theater world's biggest names includingMarguerite Clark,William Farnum,Gaby Deslys,Hazel Dawn, andH. B. Warner.[1] The company also featured cinema's biggest star of the era,Mary Pickford, and presented theater idolJohn Barrymore in his first two feature films.[1] The company produced both short and feature-length productions.
In 1916, the company merged with theJesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company to formFamous Players–Lasky Corporation, which later becameParamount Pictures.[2]
In 1915, the company establishedFamous Players Fiction Studios at 5300Melrose Avenue inHollywood. The new studio's first film starredMary Pickford.[3] The studio later becameClune Studio, then California Studio, thenGross-Krasne,[4] followed by Producers Studios Inc., and is now known asRaleigh Studios.[5] Raleigh Studios is known for being the site ofGunsmoke,Perry Mason, andLet's Make a Deal. It is one of the oldest studios in Hollywood.[citation needed]
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