William Fox
- Known for
- Production
- Born
- January 1, 1879
- Died
- May 8, 1952 (aged 73)
- Birthplace
- Tolcsva, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]
Biography
Starting at the age 8 he had a series of jobs before starting his own business in 1900, which was sold to buy a Brooklyn nickelodeon in 1904. As the new owner with an empty house, Fox hired a coin manipulator and a barker to attract patrons into the dark 146-seat theatre. Once audiences adequately understood what moving pictures were, live acts were dispensed with. More nickelodeons were opened and he became a successful film exhibitor. He then won a long legal battle against Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Patent Company, ending the film trust and allowing him to start his own production company in 1913. Operations were consolidated into the Fox Film Corporation in 1915. Theda Bara and Tom Mix starred in successful pictures made at the Fox Hollywood studios and the profits from them, and from the 1000 house Fox theatre chain, paid for "artistic" projects like Sunrise (1926), for awards and critical acclaim. In 1927, Fox acquired the American patent rights to the sound-on-film process developed by a Swiss firm. Fox pioneered the widescreen film with The Big Trail (1930). Poised for the future of talkies, he attempted to buy MGM just in time for 1929s stock market crash. In 1930 Fox was forced out of his company after a federal anti-trust investigation. His version is told in 1933 Upton Sinclair's book, 'Upton Sinclair Presents William Fox.' In 1936, a year after Darryl F. Zanuck's 20th Century Pictures merged with Fox Films, Fox bribed a judge during the liquidation of his holdings in bankruptcy proceedings. His sentence, a year in prison, began in 1941. Paroled in 1943, he was a pariah in Hollywood. Though secure from his many patent holdings, the industry for which he had been so visionary was closed to him. A virtual pariah at the time of his death, no industry representative came to eulogize at his funeral.
Known For
Filmography
The Tiger's Cub
Movie · Producer
Silk Hat Kid
Movie · Producer
Caravane
Movie · Executive Producer
Disorderly Conduct
Movie · Producer
The Painted Woman
Movie · Producer
She Wanted a Millionaire
Movie · Producer
Young America
Movie · Producer
Society Girl
Movie · Producer
El caballero de la noche
Movie · Producer
The Big Trail
Movie · Producer
Annabelle's Affairs
Movie · Executive Producer
Quick Millions
Movie · Producer
Six Cylinder Love
Movie · Producer
Slaves of Fashion
Movie · Producer
Do You Know Your Wife?
Movie · Producer
Law of the Harem
Movie · Producer
You Have to Marry the Prince
Movie · Producer
There Were Thirteen
Movie · Producer
The Spy
Movie · Producer
El impostor
Movie · Producer
Up the River
Movie · Producer
Common Clay
Movie · Executive Producer
High Society Blues
Movie · Producer
Oh, for a Man!
Movie · Executive Producer
City Girl
Movie · Producer
Lucky Star
Movie · Producer
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Movie · Producer
They Had to See Paris
Movie · Executive Producer
The River
Movie · Producer
Happy Days
Movie · Producer
The Far Call
Movie · Producer
Seven Faces
Movie · Producer
Street Angel
Movie · Producer
Fazil
Movie · Producer
A Girl in Every Port
Movie · Producer
Mother Knows Best
Movie · Producer
Latest Dance Creation is ‘Sugar Foot Strut’ (ca. 1928)
Movie · Producer
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Movie · Producer
East Side, West Side
Movie · Producer
Upstream
Movie · Producer
7th Heaven
Movie · Producer
Is Zat So?
Movie · Producer
The Music Master
Movie · Producer
Publicity Madness
Movie · Producer
More Pay - Less Work
Movie · Producer
The City
Movie · Producer
What Price Glory
Movie · Producer
The Fool
Movie · Producer
A Man's Mate
Movie · Producer
Troubles of a Bride
Movie · Executive Producer
If Winter Comes
Movie · Producer
Jungle Pals
Movie · Executive Producer
The Face on the Barroom Floor
Movie · Producer
Gentle Julia
Movie · Producer
Unreal News Reel
Movie · Executive Producer
Times Have Changed
Movie · Producer
Alias the Night Wind
Movie · Executive Producer
Monte Cristo
Movie · Producer
Step Lively, Please
Movie · Executive Producer
Honor First
Movie · Producer
A Self-Made Man
Movie · Producer
Who Are My Parents?
Movie · Executive Producer
Sky High
Movie · Producer
Jackie
Movie · Producer
Big Town Ideas
Movie · Producer
Skirts
Movie · Executive Producer
The Lamplighter
Movie · Producer
His Noisy Still
Movie · Executive Producer
Just Pals
Movie · Producer
The Husband Hunter
Movie · Producer
Flames of the Flesh
Movie · Executive Producer
A Sister to Salome
Movie · Producer
Words and Music by -
Movie · Producer
Cowardice Court
Movie · Producer
The Man Hunter
Movie · Producer
A Schoolhouse Scandal
Movie · Executive Producer
Salome
Movie · Producer
The Woman and the Law
Movie · Producer
The Woman Who Gave
Movie · Producer
A Neighbor's Keyhole
Movie · Executive Producer
Her Husband's Wife
Movie · Executive Producer
Are Married Policemen Safe?
Movie · Executive Producer
Son of a Gun
Movie · Executive Producer
The Blindness of Divorce
Movie · Executive Producer
Cleopatra
Movie · Producer
The Honor System
Movie · Producer
The Darling of Paris
Movie · Producer
The House of Terrible Scandals
Movie · Executive Producer
A Daughter of the Gods
Movie · Producer
The Eternal Sapho
Movie · Producer
East Lynne
Movie · Producer
The Serpent
Movie · Producer
A Fool There Was
Movie · Producer
Anna Karenina
Movie · Producer
The Galley Slave
Movie · Producer