70:
elsewhere. Later he established penny arcades in several neighboring cities in
Massachusetts and Connecticut. In 1906 he opened at Worcester a “nickelodeon,” the first motion picture theatre in that city. Its success prompted him to extend the scope of his operations gradually until he became the largest operator of motion picture and vaudeville theatres in New England. He also built, with his three brothers, the Gordon Olympia theatre at Rochester, N.Y. In 1912 he organized and became president of Olympia Theatres, Inc., which eventually operated thirty-eight motion picture theatres in New England. He was also the managing director of each theatre in the chain. Secondarily, Gordon and
79:, Inc., was formed originally to function as an agency to lease and distribute motion pictures for exhibition by its members. More specifically, by late 1921, over 4,000 franchise holders were participating in a consolidated enterprise with an estimated value of $ 50 million for "the elimination of wasteful expense and for the betterment of the quality of photoplays and methods of exchanging and distributing films." This limitation on its field of action, however, did not long continue, the corporation early developing into a product of motion pictures on a large scale, with an extensive plant at Burbank, Calif., and with some of the most popular film stars of that period, including
99:
20:
120:
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., in 1928. Meanwhile he disposed of his interest in
Olympia Theatres, Inc., to the Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. in 1925. According to the Boston Daily Globe, the transaction was reportedly valued at $ 12 million and included Gordon's holdings in 38 moving picture playhouses in New England.
127:
of that city and the Hebrew Ladies home at
Dorchester, Mass. He was non-sectarian in his benefactions, however, giving generously to Christian as well as Jewish institutions and causes. Among these was the Baptist hospital in Boston, to which he donated the Gordon Piazza. A man of innumerable private
131:
Possessing great energy, courage and driving power, he overcame the handicap of serious ill health in his youth and became a successful and respected figure in the motion picture industry. He was married at
Rochester, N.Y., Aug. 25, 1909, to Sarah Anna, daughter of Abraham Edinberg, a merchant of
69:
In 1902 he returned to Denver where he became part owner of a penny arcade, showing slot-machine pictures. In the following year he returned to New
England and with his brother Israel Gordon opened a slot-machine picture business at Worcester, Mass., placing machines in stores, penny arcades and
119:
Gordon, as a director and member of the executive committee, played an important role in this evolution. He resigned from the directorate in 1923 but as one of the largest stockholders continued active in the management of First
National Pictures until control of the corporation was acquired by
74:
formed the Gordon-Mayer
Theatrical Company, which booked talent for his theatres and distributed Metro's pictures. Meanwhile, as one of the largest exhibitors of motion pictures, Gordon became interested in the stabilization of conditions in the industry and in 1917 was largely instrumental in
136:"He was a powerhouse, an impossible father and not a very good husband, but he was terribly, terribly intelligent. He never owned a house until he was sixty. He rented those huge places already furnished, and Mother would have to accommodate herself. ... One of the biggest houses was in
75:
organizing the First
National Exhibitors Circuit, Inc., of which he was elected a vice-president and director. This corporation, which was succeeded in 1919 by Associated First National Pictures, Inc., and in 1924 by
273:
50:), March 15, 1872, the son of a medical practitioner. He attended a college at Vilna, taking the rabbinical course, and came to the United States in 1890. After working for a time in a harness shop at
58:, established a photograph enlarging business, traveling from town to town by wagon and enlarging pictures as he went. Later he operated a picture slot-machine place at
107:"My father was a typical bourgeois. The theatre business wasn't formal enough for him. Some people he admired on the screen, but couldn't do business with.
111:, for instance; he couldn't stand him personally. Father was a banker; the sooner he could put on banking clothes, the more relaxed he was.
161:
145:
268:
263:
258:
123:
Widely known for his philanthropic interests, he was a trustee of the Beth Israel hospital in Boston and a director of the
124:
128:
charities, he helped many of his employees to build homes and at
Christmas time made gifts to hundreds of children.
115:
he regarded as perhaps overenthusiastic but an honorable man, far more than most of the people in the business."
98:
166:
76:
233:
253:
248:
92:
51:
132:
Worcester, Mass., and they had three children—Alvin, William and Marion. As retold by his daughter:
141:
63:
19:
84:
55:
108:
80:
59:
112:
71:
43:
242:
137:
88:
47:
140:. It had a bowling alley in the garage. And you know that painting by
97:
39:
18:
102:
Advertisement for Gordon's theatres in the Boston area, 1920
30:(1872 - 1938) was an American motion picture executive.
274:
Emigrants from the
Russian Empire to the United States
91:, on its list of actors. As recalled by his son,
193:Boston Daily Globe, September 11, 1921, page 48
8:
152:Gordon died at Weston, Mass., June 3, 1938.
220:Lion of Hollywood by Scott Eyman, page 45
202:Lion of Hollywood by Scott Eyman, page 45
211:Boston Daily Globe, May 16, 1925, page 4
54:, he went West and with headquarters at
184:Hollywood East by Diana Altman, page 45
177:
148:? We lived in that house for a while."
7:
146:The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit
23:Nathan Gordon, from a 1920 magazine
14:
162:Gordon's Olympia Theatre (Boston)
125:Associated Jewish Philanthropies
234:Nathan Gordon’s Olympia circuit
1:
290:
144:of the three young girls,
269:People from Jamaica Plain
264:Film people from Vilnius
259:American film producers
167:Strand Theatre (Boston)
77:First National Pictures
150:
117:
103:
62:, and a drug store at
24:
16:American film producer
232:CinemaTreasures.org.
134:
105:
101:
22:
93:William J. J. Gordon
52:Meriden, Connecticut
46:(currently Vilnius,
142:John Singer Sargent
64:Seattle, Washington
38:Gordon was born in
28:Nathan Harry Gordon
104:
25:
85:Douglas Fairbanks
281:
221:
218:
212:
209:
203:
200:
194:
191:
185:
182:
56:Denver, Colorado
289:
288:
284:
283:
282:
280:
279:
278:
239:
238:
229:
224:
219:
215:
210:
206:
201:
197:
192:
188:
183:
179:
175:
158:
109:Charlie Chaplin
81:Charlie Chaplin
60:Helena, Montana
36:
17:
12:
11:
5:
287:
285:
277:
276:
271:
266:
261:
256:
251:
241:
240:
237:
236:
228:
227:External links
225:
223:
222:
213:
204:
195:
186:
176:
174:
171:
170:
169:
164:
157:
154:
44:Russian Empire
35:
32:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
286:
275:
272:
270:
267:
265:
262:
260:
257:
255:
252:
250:
247:
246:
244:
235:
231:
230:
226:
217:
214:
208:
205:
199:
196:
190:
187:
181:
178:
172:
168:
165:
163:
160:
159:
155:
153:
149:
147:
143:
139:
138:Jamaica Plain
133:
129:
126:
121:
116:
114:
110:
100:
96:
94:
90:
89:Mary Pickford
86:
82:
78:
73:
67:
65:
61:
57:
53:
49:
45:
41:
33:
31:
29:
21:
216:
207:
198:
189:
180:
151:
135:
130:
122:
118:
106:
68:
37:
27:
26:
254:1938 deaths
249:1872 births
113:Louis Mayer
72:Louis Mayer
243:Categories
173:References
48:Lithuania
34:Biography
156:See also
40:Vilna
87:and
245::
95::
83:,
66:.
42:,
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
