Mayer was born Lazar Meir in the Ukraine and grew up in Saint John,New Brunswick, Canada after his parents fled Russian oppression in1886. He had a brutal childhood, raised in poverty and sufferingphysical and emotional abuse from his nearly-illiterate peddler father.In the early 1890s, he changed his name to Louis and fudged his birthdate to reflect the more "patriotic" date of July 4, 1885. He moved toBoston in 1904 and struggled as a scrap-metal dealer until he was ableto purchase a burlesque house. Although he made large sums by showingfilms (he made a sizable fortune offKokumin no sôsei (1915)),his early business ventures favored legitimate theater in New England.As his theater empire expanded, he had acquired and refurbished enoughsmall movie theaters that he was able to move his business to LosAngeles and venture into movie production in 1918. Along withSamuel Goldwyn andMarcus Loew of Metro Pictures, he formed anew company called Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

Over the next 25 years, MGM was "the Tiffany of the studios," producingmore films and movie stars than any other studio in the world. Mayerbecame the prime creator of the enduring Hollywood of myth, home tostars likeClark Gable,Judy Garland,Joan Crawford, andJean Harlow. Mayer became the highest-paidman in America, one of the country's most successful horse breeders, apolitical force and Hollywood's leading spokesman. Both he and MGMreached their peaks at the end of World War II, and Mayer was forcedout in 1951. He died of leukemia in 1957.