Adolph Zukor

Adolph Zukor's success began with penny arcades, offering moving peepshows that evolved into nickelodeon theaters that offered longer, larger moving pictures. On July 12, 1912, he premiered the first feature-length film, Queen Elizabeth (1912), featuring French actress Sarah Bernhardt that ran for 40 minutes. From exhibition, Zukor moved into production, and eventually consolidated several smaller companies into what we know today as Paramount Pictures Corporation. In 1914, he produced the first American-made feature film, The Prisoner of Zenda (1913), and that was followed by such successes as The Count of Monte Cristo (1913), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1913), The Sheik (1922) and The Covered Wagon (1923). He was also credited with personally bringing to the screen some of the industry's great stars. Adolph Zukor retired from Paramount Pictures in 1959 and thereafter assumed as Chairman Emeritus until his death at age 103 on June 10, 1976.