William Fox
Production
Starting at the age 8 he had a series of jobs before starting his own business in 1900, which was sold to buy a Brooklyn nickelodeon in 1904. As the new owner with an empty house, Fox hired a coin manipulator and a barker to attract patrons into the dark 146-seat theatre. Once audiences adequately understood what moving pictures were, live acts were dispensed with. More nickelodeons were opened and he became a successful film exhibitor. He then won a long legal battle against Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Patent Company, ending the film trust and allowing him to start his own production company in 1913. Operations were consolidated into the Fox Film Corporation in 1915. Theda Bara and Tom Mix starred in successful pictures made at the Fox Hollywood studios and the profits from them, and from the 1000 house Fox theatre chain, paid for "artistic" projects like Sunrise (1926), for awards and critical acclaim. In 1927, Fox acquired the American patent rights to the sound-on-film process developed by a Swiss firm. Fox pioneered the widescreen film with The Big Trail (1930). Poised for the future of talkies, he attempted to buy MGM just in time for 1929s stock market crash. In 1930 Fox was forced out of his company after a federal anti-trust investigation. His version is told in 1933 Upton Sinclair's book, 'Upton Sinclair Presents William Fox.' In 1936, a year after Darryl F. Zanuck's 20th Century Pictures merged with Fox Films, Fox bribed a judge during the liquidation of his holdings in bankruptcy proceedings. His sentence, a year in prison, began in 1941. Paroled in 1943, he was a pariah in Hollywood. Though secure from his many patent holdings, the industry for which he had been so visionary was closed to him. A virtual pariah at the time of his death, no industry representative came to eulogize at his funeral.
Known for
Production94
movieSilk Hat Kid
1935
Producer
movieCaravane
1934
Executive Producer
movieThe Painted Woman
1932
Producer
movieSociety Girl
1932
Producer
movieYoung America
1932
Producer
movieDisorderly Conduct
1932
Producer
movieThere Were Thirteen
1931
Producer
movieLaw of the Harem
1931
Producer
movieDo You Know Your Wife?
1931
Producer
movieSlaves of Fashion
1931
Producer
movieAnnabelle's Affairs
1931
Executive Producer
movieSix Cylinder Love
1931
Producer
movieThe Spy
1931
Producer
movieQuick Millions
1931
Producer
movieEl impostor
1931
Producer
movieThe Big Trail
1931
Producer
movieOh, for a Man!
1930
Executive Producer
movieUp the River
1930
Producer
movieCommon Clay
1930
Executive Producer
movieHigh Society Blues
1930
Producer
movieCity Girl
1930
Producer
movieSeven Faces
1929
Producer
movieThe River
1929
Producer
movieThey Had to See Paris
1929
Executive Producer
movieHappy Days
1929
Producer
movieLucky Star
1929
Producer
movieThe Far Call
1929
Producer
movieSir Arthur Conan Doyle
1929
Producer
movieFazil
1928
Producer
movieStreet Angel
1928
Producer
movieA Girl in Every Port
1928
Producer
movieEast Side, West Side
1927
Producer
moviePublicity Madness
1927
Producer
movie7th Heaven
1927
Producer
movieIs Zat So?
1927
Producer
movieUpstream
1927
Producer
movieThe Music Master
1927
Producer
movieWhat Price Glory
1926
Producer
movieThe City
1926
Producer
movieMore Pay - Less Work
1926
Producer
movieThe Fool
1925
Producer
movieTroubles of a Bride
1924
Executive Producer
movieA Man's Mate
1924
Producer
movieGentle Julia
1923
Producer
movieTimes Have Changed
1923
Producer
movieUnreal News Reel
1923
Executive Producer
Jungle Pals
1923
Executive Producer
movieAlias the Night Wind
1923
Executive Producer
movieIf Winter Comes
1923
Producer
movieWho Are My Parents?
1922
Executive Producer
Step Lively, Please
1922
Executive Producer
movieMonte Cristo
1922
Producer
movieHonor First
1922
Producer
movieA Self-Made Man
1922
Producer
movieSky High
1922
Producer
movieJackie
1921
Producer
movieSkirts
1921
Executive Producer
His Noisy Still
1920
Executive Producer
movieJust Pals
1920
Producer
movieA Sister to Salome
1920
Producer
movieThe Husband Hunter
1920
Producer
movieFlames of the Flesh
1920
Executive Producer
A Schoolhouse Scandal
1919
Executive Producer
movieCowardice Court
1919
Producer
movieWords and Music by -
1919
Producer
movieThe Man Hunter
1919
Producer
movieThe Woman Who Gave
1918
Producer
movieSalome
1918
Producer
A Neighbor's Keyhole
1918
Executive Producer
movieThe Blindness of Divorce
1918
Executive Producer
movieThe Woman and the Law
1918
Producer
Her Husband's Wife
1918
Executive Producer
movieAre Married Policemen Safe?
1918
Executive Producer
movieSon of a Gun
1918
Executive Producer
movieCleopatra
1917
Producer
movieThe House of Terrible Scandals
1917
Executive Producer
movieThe Honor System
1917
Producer
movieThe Darling of Paris
1917
Producer
movieA Daughter of the Gods
1916
Producer
movieEast Lynne
1916
Producer
movieThe Eternal Sapho
1916
Producer
movieThe Serpent
1916
Producer
movieThe Galley Slave
1915
Producer
movieA Fool There Was
1915
Producer
movieThe Tiger's Cub
Producer
Crew111
movieDavid Harum
1934
Presenter
movieHoopla
1933
Presenter
movieIt's Great to Be Alive
1933
Presenter
movieWild Girl
1932
Presenter
movieRackety Rax
1932
Presenter
movieRough Romance
1930
Presenter
movieSuch Men Are Dangerous
1930
Presenter
movieThe Big Party
1930
Presenter
movieHappy Days
1929
Presenter
movieNot Quite Decent
1929
Presenter
movieThe Black Watch
1929
Presenter
movieThe Valiant
1929
Presenter
movieGirls Gone Wild
1929
Presenter
movieStrong Boy
1929
Presenter
movieRomance of the Underworld
1928
Presenter
movieThe Farmer's Daughter
1928
Presenter
movieFleetwing
1928
Presenter
movieNo Other Woman
1928
Presenter
movieThe Play Girl
1928
Presenter
movieThe Wizard
1927
Presenter
movieLadies Must Dress
1927
Presenter
movieThe Gay Retreat
1927
Presenter
movieTwo Girls Wanted
1927
Presenter
movieThe Loves of Carmen
1927
Presenter
movieTumbling River
1927
Presenter
movieThe Secret Studio
1927
Presenter
movieOutlaws of Red River
1927
Presenter
movieThe War Horse
1927
Presenter
movieThe Midnight Kiss
1926
Presenter
movieFig Leaves
1926
Presenter
movieEarly to Wed
1926
Presenter
movieThe Fighting Heart
1925
Presenter
movieThe Iron Horse
1925
Presenter
movieGold Heels
1924
Presenter
movieFlames of Desire
1924
Presenter
movieDaughters of the Night
1924
Presenter
movieHearts of Oak
1924
Presenter
movieThe Cyclone Rider
1924
Presenter
movieThe Vagabond Trail
1924
Presenter
Love Letters
1924
Presenter
movieThe Shadow of the East
1924
Presenter
movieHoodman Blind
1923
Presenter
movieSix Cylinder Love
1923
Presenter
movieCameo Kirby
1923
Presenter
movieDoes It Pay?
1923
Presenter
movieThe Gunfighter
1923
Presenter
movieThe Silent Command
1923
Presenter
movieSnowdrift
1923
Presenter
movieA Friendly Husband
1923
Presenter
moviePawn Ticket 210
1922
Presenter
movieThe Great Night
1922
Presenter
movieShirley of the Circus
1922
Presenter
movieYouth Must Have Love
1922
Presenter
movieHonor First
1922
Presenter
movieA Self-Made Man
1922
Presenter
movieThe Yellow Stain
1922
Presenter
movieWithout Fear
1922
Presenter
movieA Stage Romance
1922
Presenter
movieLittle Miss Smiles
1922
Presenter
movieJackie
1921
Presenter
movieThe Last Trail
1921
Presenter
movieQueenie
1921
Presenter
movieThe Primal Law
1921
Presenter
movieEver Since Eve
1921
Presenter
moviePerjury
1921
Presenter
movieA Ridin' Romeo
1921
Presenter
movieHis Greatest Sacrifice
1921
Presenter
movieKnow Your Men
1921
Presenter
movieSinging River
1920
Presenter
movieThe Face at Your Window
1920
Presenter
movieThe Joyous Trouble-Makers
1920
Presenter
movieTwins of Suffering Creek
1920
Presenter
movieThe Orphan
1920
Presenter
movieHer Elephant Man
1920
Presenter
movieThe Strongest
1920
Presenter
movieThe Shark
1920
Presenter
movieWings of the Morning
1919
Presenter
movieLove Is Love
1919
Presenter
movieThe Love That Dares
1919
Presenter
movieThe Forbidden Room
1919
Presenter
movieThe Man Hunter
1919
Presenter
movieWhy I Would Not Marry
1918
Presenter
movieThe Queen of Hearts
1918
Presenter
movieThe Bird of Prey
1918
Presenter
movieTrue Blue
1918
Presenter
movieThe Woman and the Law
1918
Presenter
movieMadame du Barry
1917
Presenter
movieThe Babes in the Woods
1917
Presenter
movieThe Scarlet Pimpernel
1917
Presenter
movieJack and the Beanstalk
1917
Presenter
Some Boy
1917
Presenter
movieThe Silent Lie
1917
Presenter
movieThe Price of Silence
1917
Presenter
movieThe Galley Slave
1915
Presenter
movieThe Wonderful Adventure
1915
Presenter
movieShould a Mother Tell
1915
Presenter
movieKreutzer Sonata
1915
Presenter
movieLife's Shop Window
1914
Presenter
movieRegeneration
1914
Presenter
movieThe Tiger's Cub
Presenter
Acting1
movieMurnau, Borzage and Fox
2008
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sound1
movieSouth of Tahiti
1941
Sound Technical Supervisor
