Jesse L. Lasky Biography

Fast Facts

• Completed the world's first feature film, 1914's "The Squaw Man," with partner Samuel Goldwyn and director Cecil B․ DeMille, in a rented barn near Los Angeles with limited funds
• After returning from an Alaskan adventure in search of gold, he joined his sister Blanche on a tour of America as a duo act
• By 1913 he was working in the film industry and formed the Jesse L․ Lasky Feature Play Company with his brother-in-law, Sam Goldwyn, hiring Cecil B․ DeMille as their first director
• Produced two Broadway musicals, "Hello, Paris" and "A La Broadway," in 1911
• In 1916 he merged his company with Famous Players and later took control of Paramount Pictures, then just a distribution company
• Best known as a film producer and as the co-founder of Paramount Pictures with Adolph Zukor
• After the turmoil of the Great Depression forced him to leave Paramount in 1932, he began working as an independent producer for Fox and RKO
• The barn where he worked on "The Squaw Man" is now known as the Lasky-DeMille Barn and is home to the Hollywood Heritage Museum
• Published his autobiography, "I Blow My Own Horn," in 1957, less than a year before his death
• The Jesse L․ Lasky Feature Play Company was the first permanent film company to be located in Hollywood