Spyros Panagiotis Skouras was a Greek-American motion picture pioneer and film executive who was the president of 20th Century-Fox from 1942 to 1962.
14 Facts About Spyros Skouras
2.
Spyros Skouras resigned June 27,1962, but served as chairman of the company for several more years.
3.
Spyros Panagiotis Skouras was born in 1893 in Skourochori, Greece to a family whose father was a sheep herder.
4.
Together with his brothers Charles and George Spyros Skouras, he emigrated to the United States in 1910.
5.
The biggest moment for the Spyros Skouras empire came when their dream of building a world-class movie palace in downtown St Louis was realized in 1926 when they opened the $5.5 million Ambassador Theatre Building.
6.
From 1929 to 1931 during the Great Depression, Spyros Skouras worked as a general manager of the Warner Brothers Theater Circuit in the United States.
7.
In 1932, the Skouras Brothers took over the management of the Fox West Coast Theater chain, with more than 500 theaters.
8.
Spyros Skouras's daughter jumped from a building to her death.
9.
Athanasios Spyros Skouras, member of the Greek Resistant Organisation PEAN during the Axis Occupation of Greece in the Second World War, was a relative of his.
10.
In May 1935 Spyros Skouras took the initiative for the merger of Fox Studios with Twentieth Century Pictures.
11.
Spyros Skouras served as president of the merged company 20th Century Fox from 1942 to 1962.
12.
Spyros Skouras oversaw the production of such classics as Don't Bother to Knock, The Seven Year Itch, The Hustler, The King and I, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Robe.
13.
Darryl F Zanuck was elected president of the company while Skouras served as chairman of the company for several years.
14.
In parallel with his work in the film industry, Spyros Skouras had invested in the shipping industry, where many Greek immigrants had interest.