Arguably the most influential motion picture executive of this century, Louis B. Mayer presided over the studio that claimed to have "more stars than there are in heaven," Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). In 1938 Mayer was the highest paid person in America, including Franklin Roosevelt and Henry Ford. All this was rather impressive for a former junk man.

He was born Lazar Meir in Russia. In 1888, his family moved to America, where his father started a scrap metal business, J. Mayer and Son. Mayer joined his father in the business right after high school, but he always had larger ambitions. In 1904 he married Margaret Shenberg and they had two daughters, Edith and Irene.

Louis B. Mayer

After deciding, "Movies are the one thing you can sell and still own," Mayer got into the nickelodeon business. Distributing the huge hit motion picture, Birth of a Nation...