William Fox
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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.
Crew
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Producer
His Noisy Still
Executive Producer
The Loves of Carmen
Presenter
The Shadow of the East
Presenter
Flames of Desire
Presenter
East Side, West Side
Producer
Common Clay
Executive Producer
A Daughter of the Gods
Producer
Disorderly Conduct
Producer
Caravane
Executive Producer
High Society Blues
Producer
The Painted Woman
Producer
Annabelle's Affairs
Executive Producer
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Producer
The Eternal Sapho
Producer
Six Cylinder Love
Producer
She Wanted a Millionaire
Producer
They Had to See Paris
Executive Producer
Little Miss Smiles
Presenter
Jackie
Producer, Presenter
A Girl in Every Port
Producer
Not Quite Decent
Presenter
Ladies Must Dress
Presenter
South of Tahiti
Sound Technical Supervisor
Jungle Pals
Executive Producer
Step Lively, Please
Executive Producer
The Fighting Heart
Presenter
Mother Knows Best
Producer
The Darling of Paris
Producer
Happy Days
Producer, Presenter
Oh, for a Man!
Executive Producer
Honor First
Presenter, Producer
The Face on the Barroom Floor
Producer
From the Valley of the Missing
Presenter
Unreal News Reel
Executive Producer
Such Men Are Dangerous
Presenter
It's Great to Be Alive
Presenter
Romance of the Underworld
Presenter
Slaves of Fashion
Producer
Do You Know Your Wife?
Producer
You Have to Marry the Prince
Producer
There Were Thirteen
Producer
A Self-Made Man
Presenter, Producer
More Pay - Less Work
Producer
Why I Would Not Marry
Presenter
The Wonderful Adventure
Presenter
The Tiger's Cub
Producer, Presenter
The Woman and the Law
Producer, Presenter
A Woman's Resurrection
Presenter
Should a Mother Tell
Presenter
The Song of Hate
Presenter
The Galley Slave
Producer, Presenter
Daughters of the Night
Presenter
Two Girls Wanted
Presenter
The Face at Your Window
Presenter
His Greatest Sacrifice
Presenter
Shirley of the Circus
Presenter
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Presenter
Who Are My Parents?
Executive Producer
The Queen of Hearts
Presenter
Words and Music by -
Producer
The Silent Command
Presenter
The Woman Who Gave
Producer
The Husband Hunter
Producer
A Neighbor's Keyhole
Executive Producer
Her Husband's Wife
Executive Producer
Are Married Policemen Safe?
Executive Producer
Son of a Gun
Executive Producer
The Price of Silence
Presenter
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Presenter
The Joyous Trouble-Makers
Presenter
Twins of Suffering Creek
Presenter
Wings of the Morning
Presenter
The Man Hunter
Producer, Presenter
The Babes in the Woods
Presenter
Flames of the Flesh
Executive Producer
A Schoolhouse Scandal
Executive Producer
The Forbidden Room
Presenter
The Girl with the Champagne Eyes
Presenter
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
Presenter
Jack and the Beanstalk
Presenter
The Love That Dares
Presenter
Publicity Madness
Producer
Times Have Changed
Producer
Troubles of a Bride
Executive Producer
The Blindness of Divorce
Executive Producer
A Sister to Salome
Producer
