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Jack Warner

Growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, Jack Warner (1892-1978) and his enterprising brothers spent the first decade of the 1900s trying to succeed in the entertainment business. Eventually, the brothers pooled their resources and formed Warner Brothers Studio, producing their first major film in 1918 and achieved their first successes with movies starring the dog Rin Tin Tin. In 1927, the studio produced The Jazz Singer-the first full-length "talkie" ever released-and it became an international sensation. Warner assumed exclusive control of the film production company in the 1950s, after he secretly purchased his brothers' shares in the business. Warner supported Senator McCarthy's anti-Communist crusade, and cooperated by naming employees he suspected of being left-wing sympathizers. Despite his controversial public image, Warner remained active in the movie industry until the 1970s.