H1: Jews in Hollywood

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The Background

During the 19th Century alone the USA took in twenty-five million immigrants. Many Jews, with hopes and dreams of a more secure and comfortable life, were part of this massive migration of people. The standard of living grew as the country became more prosperous and by the 1920s many rich Americans found themselves with an awful lot of time on their hands. The Leisure industry developed and the search for different forms of entertainment grew. "Moving Pictures" had been around for a few years, but their great potential was as yet untapped.

On to the scene walk the likes of Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldfish and brothers by the name of Warner. These young ambitious Jews, involved in clothing and jewellery businesses, see the glaring gaps in the leisure market and are willing to take risks. They want to make it, and they want to make it big. To cut a long story short they all, independently, find there way into owning film studios. By now, Samuel Goldfish has changed his surname to Goldwyn (a bit more classy and a bit less Jewish) and in a key episode of film history, merges his company with Mayer's. Metro Goldwyn Mayer, MGM, film studios are born. These Jewish film bosses had a knack of knowing what the public wanted and, through the media of film, they gave it to them.

The Dream

The industry boomed. Movie theatres sprung up all over America and everyone was going to the movies. Hollywood was affecting the way people led their lives. On the screen people looked glamorous. They wore beautiful clothes, drove stunning cars and lived in glorious mansions. The American dream of being wealthy comfortable and happy was right up there, larger than life, for all to see. America fell in love with the silver screen.

The Moguls

F. Scott Fitzgerald said that "Hollywood was a Jewish dream and a gentile tragedy." With so many Jews in the industry, Hollywood became a Jewish power base. These people were all immigrants from places which were not that far apart back in Russia and being outsiders could somehow see more clearly how to do well in this new world. Amongst themselves they were fiercely competitive but still kept the business in the family. MGM was known as Mayer's Gunsa Mishpocha, which is Yiddish for Mayer's whole family, because the man had a tendency to employ his relatives!

The Film industry did so well that these men became multi-millionaires. They were known as the movie moguls who literally ruled over their studios. They had the power to make or break careers. Actors and actresses, though stars of the screen, were owned by the movie moguls and had to do as they were told. When Louis Mayer's wife heard people talking about "the Almighty", she wasn't sure if they meant God or her husband!

DreamWorks SKG

You've probably heard about this new company. It was set up by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Spielberg is Hollywood's most successful director with films like Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park and, of course, Schindler's List, under his belt; Katzenberg supervised the glorious revival of animated features like Aladdin and The Lion King while at the Walt Disney Co.; and Geffen has made stars of Guns N' Roses and Nirvana on records, Tom Cruise in movies and Cats on Broadway. These successful men are trying to build a huge multi-media empire which can take on the next millennium and are quite open about their Jewishness. Says Spielberg of potential investor Bill (Mr Microsoft) Gates, "I saw someone my mother would like. He's a haimisher guy." DreamWorks is the modern face of Hollywood Jews.

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