Samuel Louis Warner (born Szmuel Wonsal, August 10, 1887 – October 5, 1927) was an American film producer who was the co-founder and chief executive officer of Warner Bros. He established the studio along with his brothers Harry, Albert, and Jack L. Warner. Sam Warner is credited with procuring the technology that enabled Warner Bros. to produce the film industry's first feature-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer. He died in 1927, on the day before the film's enormously successful premiere.
Early years
Samuel "Wonsal" or "Wonskolaser", was born in Poland (then part of Congress Poland), in the town of Krasnosielc. He was one of eleven children born to Benjamin, a shoe maker born in Krasnosielc, and Pearl Leah (née Eichelbaum), both Polish Jews. He had ten siblings. His sisters were Cecilia (1877–1881), Anna (1878–1958), Rose (1890–1955), Fannie (1891–1984) and Sadie (1895–1959). His brothers were Hirsz Mojżesz ((1881–1958), and later known as "Harry"), Abraham ((1884–1967), later known as "Albert" or "Abe"), Jacob ((1892–1978), later known as "Jack"), David (1893–1939) and Milton (1896–1915).
The family emigrated to Baltimore, Maryland in October 1889 on the steamship Hermann from Bremen, Germany. Their father had preceded them, emigrating to Baltimore in 1888, and following his trade in shoes and shoe repair. He changed the family name to Warner, which was used thereafter. As in many Jewish immigrant families, some of the children gradually acquired anglicized versions of their Yiddish-sounding names. Szmuel became Samuel, nicknamed Sam.
In Baltimore, Benjamin Warner struggled to make enough money to provide for his growing family. Following the advice of a friend, Benjamin relocated the family to Canada, where he attempted to make a living by bartering tin wares to trappers in exchange for furs. After two arduous years in Canada, Benjamin and his family returned to Baltimore. In 1896, the family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, following the lead of Harry Warner, who established a shoe repair shop in the heart of the emerging industrial town. Benjamin worked with his son Harry in the shoe repair shop until he secured a loan to open a meat counter and grocery store in the city's downtown area. As a child, Sam Warner found himself trying to find work through a range of various odd jobs.
Career
Early business ventures
Samuel Warner was the first member of his family to move into the entertainment industry. In the early 1900s, he formed a business partnership with another Youngstown resident and "took over" the city's Old Grand Opera House, which he used as a venue for "cheap vaudeville and photoplays". The venture failed after one summer. Warner then secured a job as a projectionist at Idora Park, a local amusement park. He persuaded the family of the new medium's possibilities and negotiated the purchase of a Model B Kinetoscope from a projectionist who was "down on his luck". The purchase price was $1,000. Warner's interest in film came after seeing Thomas Edison's The Great Train Robbery while working as an employee at Cedar Point Pleasure Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. During this time, Albert agreed to join Warner and together the two displayed showings of The Great Train Robbery at carnivals throughout the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania; Sam Warner would run the film projector and Albert would sell tickets.
In 1905, Harry Warner agreed to join his two brothers and sold his Youngstown bicycle shop. Through the money Harry made by selling the bicycle shop, the three brothers were now able to purchase a building in New Castle, Pennsylvania; The brothers named their new theater The Cascade Movie Palace. The Cascade Movie Palace was so successful that the brothers were able to purchase a second theater in New Castle. This makeshift theatre, called the Bijou, was furnished with chairs borrowed from a local undertaker. They maintained the theater until moving into film distribution in 1907. That year, the Warner brothers established the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement Company, and the three brothers rented an office in the Bakewell building in downtown Pittsburgh. Harry then sent Sam Warner to New York to purchase, and ship, films for their Pittsburgh exchange company, while he and Albert remained in Pittsburgh to run the business.