Jesse L. Lasky

Birth Name:

Jesse Louis Lasky

Birth Place:

San Francisco, California, United States

Profession

Producer

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

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