People active in the silent era and people who keep the silent era alive. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Photograph by White; Silent Era image collection.

Jesse L. Lasky

Born 13 September 1880 in San Francisco, California, USA, as Jesse Louis Lasky.
Died 13 January 1958 in Beverly Hills, California, USA, of a heart attack.

Brother-in-law of executive Samuel Goldwyn.

Married; son, Jesse L. Lasky Jr.

Jesse L. Lasky began his professional career in a series of odd jobs that led into vaudeville entertainment. In late 1913, Lasky established the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, Incorporated, with general manager Samuel Goldfish (Samuel Goldwyn) and directors Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille. Lasky rented a barn in Hollywood and made the first feature-length film produced in California, The Squaw Man (1914). The film more than recouped its production costs that exceeded $15,000, and the company proceeded with film production. Lasky soon (in 1914) established distribution through W.W. Hodkinson’s Paramount Pictures Corporation.

Circa October 1915, Jesse L. Lasky teamed with Adolph Zukor of the Famous Players Film Company, who has suffered a major studio fire, forming the merged production company, Famous Players-Lasky Company. By 1916, Zukor had established enough clout, through stock purchases, to oust founder Hodkinson during the 13 July 1916 board meeting of Paramount Pictures Corporation. Almost immediately, on 19 July 1916, Zukor and Lasky formed the reorganized Famous Players-Lasky Corporation.

References: Website-Wikipedia.