William Fox (producer)

William Fox was a powerful executive who helped shape the early American film industry.

Born Wilhelm Fried Fuchs in Tolcsva, Hungary, in 1879, he immigrated to the United States as an infant. His parents, Michael Fuchs and Anna Fried, were Hungarian Jews. Growing up in New York City, Fox worked several jobs to support his large family. He sold candy and newspapers in Central Park and worked in the garment industry. At age eight, a fall from an ice truck broke his arm. This accident resulted in a permanent physical impairment.

Fox was primarily an entrepreneur focused on the business of exhibition. He began his career by starting a company in 1900, which he sold in 1904. This sale allowed him to purchase his first nickelodeon, a small, early movie theater. Rather than just making films, he concentrated on acquiring and building theater chains. He purchased film prints from major companies like Biograph, Pathé, and Vitagraph to show in his venues. In 1910, he successfully leased the New York Academy of Music to convert it into a movie theater. He expanded his influence across New York and New Jersey.

In 1914, Fox established the Fox Film Corporation. He used capital from the McCarter, Kuser, and Usar families, along with the Eisele and King investment house, to replace his smaller studios. The company's first film studio was located in Fort Lee, New Jersey. This location was a major hub for early 20th-century film production. Fox used this new capital to expand his production capacity significantly. He also began buying films outright from the Balboa Amusement Producing Company. He distributed these films to his own theaters and rented them to others nationwide.

The company saw massive financial success through its stars and technical innovations. Between 1915 and 1919, Fox films earned millions of dollars. He signed breakout star Theda Bara, known as "The Vamp," and Western actor Tom Mix. One of Fox's most vital contributions was the development of sound technology. He purchased the rights to the German Tri-Ergon system and the work of Theodore Case. This led to the Fox Movietone sound-on-film system, introduced in 1927 with the film *Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans*. This technology became an industry standard, making older sound-on-disc systems like Vitaphone obsolete.

Fox's empire reached enormous proportions during its peak. His companies held an estimated value of $300,000,000. Personally, Fox owned 53 percent of Fox Film and 93 percent of the Fox Theaters. He personally oversaw the construction of grand Fox Theatres in cities such as Atlanta, Detroit, and San Francisco. He also produced the Fox Movietone News, a major newsreel series that ran from 1928 to 1964. Despite his massive success, Fox remained in New York. He was often more connected to his financiers than to his Hollywood stars.

In 1929, Fox attempted a massive expansion by buying the Loew family's holdings in MGM. This move was made without the knowledge of MGM bosses Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg. The attempt triggered a legal battle when Mayer persuaded the Justice Department to sue Fox for violating antitrust laws. Simultaneously, Fox suffered a severe automobile accident in July 1929. The subsequent stock market crash in October 1929 wiped out much of his fortune. These combined pressures led to a hostile takeover in 1930. Fox lost control of his entire organization during this period.

The final years of Fox's life were marked by legal struggles and personal hardship. He engaged in a seven-year legal battle to fight bankruptcy. In 1936, he faced charges of bribery and perjury during his bankruptcy hearing. In 1943, he served a prison sentence of five months and seventeen days for obstructing justice and defrauding the United States. He later received a Presidential pardon from Harry Truman. Fox died in 1952 at age 73, and his death went largely unnoticed by Hollywood.

Although he lost his companies, the Fox name remains a global brand. In 1935, Fox Film Corporation merged with Twentieth Century Pictures to form Twentieth Century-Fox. While he never owned the modern studio, his name is part of its history. Today, the name survives through the Fox Corporation and its branches, such as Fox News and Fox Sports. His legacy is also tied to the Walt Disney Company, which owns Twentieth Century Fox. Fox's journey from a candy seller to a media titan changed the landscape of modern entertainment.