
Birthday: December 25, 1876
Death: October 22, 1961
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Michael Schenck (/ˈskɛŋk/; December 25, 1876 – October 22, 1961) was a Russian-born American film studio executive. Schenck was born to a Jewish family in Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia. He and his family – including younger brother Nicholas – emigrated to New York City in July 1892 under the name Ossip Schenker. Recognizing the potential, in 1909 the Schenck brothers purchased Palisades Amusement Park and afterward became participants in the fledgling motion picture industry in partnership with Marcus Loew, operating a chain of movie theaters. In 1916, through his involvement in the film business, Joseph Schenck met and married Norma Talmadge, a top young star with Vitagraph Studios. He would be the first of her three husbands, but she was his only wife. Schenck supervised, controlled and nurtured her career in alliance with her mother. In 1917 the couple formed the Norma Talmadge Film Corporation, which became a lucrative enterprise. They divorced in 1934; Schenck then built a home in Palm Springs, California. After parting ways with his brother, Joseph Schenck moved to the West Coast where the future of the film industry seemed to lie. Within a few years Schenck was made the second president of the new United Artists. In 1933 he partnered with Darryl F. Zanuck to create Twentieth Century Pictures that merged with Fox Film Corporation in 1935. As chairman of the new 20th Century Fox, he was one of the most powerful and influential people in the film business. Caught in a payoff scheme to buy peace with the militant unions, he was convicted of income tax evasion and spent time in prison before being granted a presidential pardon. Following his release, he returned to 20th Century Fox where he became infatuated with the unknown Marilyn Monroe, and played a key role in launching her career. One of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in 1952 he was given a special Academy Award in recognition of his contribution to the development of the film industry. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6757 Hollywood Blvd. Schenck retired in 1957 and shortly afterward suffered a stroke, from which he never fully recovered. He died in Los Angeles in 1961 at the age of 84, and was interred in Maimonides Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

April 17, 1924

November 19, 1923

December 25, 1926

August 29, 1920

January 01, 1922

July 21, 1922

May 15, 1922

September 02, 1936

February 28, 1936

January 22, 1923

March 11, 1922

November 27, 1922

October 26, 1921

March 01, 1923

October 01, 1922

August 28, 1922

May 27, 1928

November 10, 1921

April 23, 1917

August 20, 1917

March 18, 1918

September 07, 1919

September 15, 1918

October 29, 1917

January 11, 1920

January 20, 1918

May 12, 1918

June 30, 1918

October 26, 1919

October 27, 1920

June 25, 1917

September 30, 1917

December 10, 1917

May 21, 1917

August 01, 1925

April 27, 1934

August 24, 1934

January 07, 1933

February 18, 1933

January 21, 1933

March 17, 1933

April 08, 1933

May 11, 1929

May 03, 1930

January 22, 1929

November 08, 1930

September 28, 1924

November 13, 1930

October 12, 1932

November 01, 1925

May 15, 1921

December 12, 1920

April 18, 1921

September 24, 1923

March 15, 1925

May 09, 1928

May 18, 1934

May 09, 1935

February 03, 1933

April 04, 1926

August 02, 1926

May 11, 1919

October 06, 1918

January 07, 1917

April 01, 1917

September 01, 1928

January 05, 1919

October 01, 1917

November 01, 1917

May 04, 1917

January 19, 1918

August 18, 1918

May 19, 1918

May 24, 1919

January 05, 1920

October 26, 1919

January 01, 1920

March 29, 1920

September 05, 1920

September 04, 1927

February 13, 1922

January 28, 1923

September 17, 1922

August 06, 1923

October 10, 1930

September 10, 1927

February 07, 1930

December 28, 1929

April 30, 1930

September 04, 1926

April 20, 1929

November 07, 1920

February 21, 1921

April 05, 1919

September 08, 1919

April 11, 1918

January 23, 1921

November 19, 1923

May 01, 1921

February 07, 1930