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36-506: The theater opened in 1928 by entrepreneur John H. Kunsky . Originally opening to serve as a movie theater , in 1976, the theater that had now been closed, was reopened as a concert and comedy venue by Detroit native and concert promoter Paul Stanley of PS Productions. The very first concert was Maria Muldaur and Martin Mull on April 3, 1976. The second concert was billed as 'The Martins are coming' starred Martin Mull and Steve Martin for $ 5.50

72-401: A 39-story building that had its grand opening in 1926. He managed to keep stars such as Pola Negri , Gloria Swanson, and most important of all, Mary Pickford, under contract and happy to stay at Paramount. At one point, Pickford told Zukor: "You know, for years I've dreamed of making $ 20,000 a year before I was 20, and I'll be 20 very soon." "I could take a hint," Zukor recalled wryly. "She got

108-474: A 50 percent interest in the new Columbia Broadcasting System in 1928, but selling it within a few years. Partner Lasky hung on until 1932, when Paramount nearly collapsed in the Great Depression years. Lasky was blamed for that and tossed out. In the following year, Paramount went into receivership. Ultimately at fault were Zukor's over-expansion and use of overvalued Paramount stock for purchases that made

144-776: A leading position in the 1920s and 1930s, but led the government to pursue it on antitrust grounds for more than 20 years. Zukor was the driving force behind Paramount's success. Through the teens and twenties, he also built the Publix Theatres Corporation, a chain of nearly 2000 screens. He also ran two production studios, one in Astoria, New York (now the Kaufman Astoria Studios ) and the other in Hollywood, California. In 1926, Zukor hired independent producer B. P. Schulberg , who had an unerring eye for new talent, to run

180-743: A loan to invest in a chain of theaters. These theaters were started by Mitchell Mark in Buffalo, New York , and hosted Edisonia Hall . Mark needed investors to expand his chain of theaters. Zukor gave Goldstein the loan and formed a partnership with Mark and Morris Kohn, a friend of Zukor's who also invested in the theaters. Zukor, Mark, and Kohn opened a penny arcade operating as The Automatic Vaudeville Company on 14th Street in New York City. They soon opened branches in Boston , Philadelphia , and Newark , with funding by Marcus Loew . By 1910, Zukor already owned

216-538: A log beam hotel, a golf course, swimming beaches, stables, an airport, ice skating and a ski chalet with a 93-foot ski jump. On June 24, 1947, King, then a widower, married Sarah (Sug) DeMers, a local girl he had met while visiting his resort. John King died January 2, 1952, and his widow continued to operate the resort complex until Feb. 17, 1961. The property was then sold to Walter Williamson. Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor ( / ˈ z uː k ər / ; Hungarian : Czukor Adolf ; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976)

252-527: A lot of money operating these small theaters, but decided it was time for something bigger. John Kunsky hired architect C. Howard Crane to design the first true movie house in Detroit. The Columbia opened in 1911 and could seat over 1000. It contained a pipe organ and had facilities for its own orchestra . This was only the second large movie house in the United States . The Strand with nearly 1400 seats and

288-524: A mansion that would incorporate many of the symbols of theater. He hired noted theater architect C. Howard Crane to design his Tudor mansion. About 1936-37, John Kunsky (now John King) decided to build a resort in Land o' Lakes, Wisconsin in the region on the border between the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin . The King's Gateway Hotel complex included a restaurant, bowling and gambling facilities,

324-708: A nickelodeon chain and became Leow's partner in a theater circuit. Two years later, he sold his shares in Loew's company in order to purchase the French film, Queen Elizabeth . In 1912, Adolph Zukor established Famous Players Film Company —advertising "Famous Players in Famous Plays"—as the American distribution company for the French film production Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth starring Sarah Bernhardt . The following year he obtained

360-535: A position he held up until his death at the age of 103 in Los Angeles . In 1897, he married Lottie Kaufman; they had two children, Eugene J. Zukor, who became a Paramount executive in 1916, and Mildred Zukor Loew who married Arthur Loew, son of Marcus Loew . Zukor was a Freemason at Centennial Lodge No. 673, New York. Zukor died from natural causes at his Los Angeles residence at age 103 in June 1976. He

396-447: A swimming pool on this property. Two years later, Zukor bought an additional 500 acres, built a night house, guest house, movie theater, locker room, greenhouses, garages and staff quarters, and hired golf architect A.W. Tillinghast to build an 18-hole championship golf course. Today, Zukor's estate is the private Paramount Country Club . In 1903, he became involved in the film industry when his cousin, Max Goldstein, approached him for

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432-439: A ticket, and the third concert featured a new act; Hall & Oates . In July 1978 Prism recorded a live album, “ Live Tonite ”, at the theatre during one of their shows. It was privately owned until being purchased in 2004 by Worldwide Entertainment, LLC, then Off Broadway and musicals were brought as forms of entertainment into the venue. AEG Live began operating the theatre in 2007. There are three set ups available at

468-525: A wealthy young burgher , and he certainly earned the income of one. He had a commodious apartment at 111th Street and Seventh Avenue in New York City 's wealthy German-Jewish section". In 1918, he moved to New City, Rockland County, New York , where he purchased 300 acres of land from Lawrence Abraham , heir to the A&;S Department Stores. Abraham had already built a sizable house, a nine-hole golf course and

504-471: The $ 20,000, and before long I was paying her $ 100,000 a year. Mary was a terrific businessman." Zukor was, primarily, also a businessman. "He did not take the same personal, down-to-the-last-detail interest in the making of his movies that producer-executives such as Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer did," wrote The New York Times in Zukor's obituary at the age of 103. He became an early investor in radio, taking

540-507: The Alhambra, with about 1475 seats were designed by C. Howard Crane, and both opened in 1915. The Adams Theater was built in 1917. John Kunsky dreamed of building larger and grander movie palaces. Kunsky once again hired C. Howard Crane to design his first such theater. The 1806 seat Madison was completed in 1917, costing $ 500,000 to build. It was not certain if movies would be a passing fad of if such large theaters could be profitable. To insure

576-643: The Detroit Opera House in 1996 and seating was reduced to 2,765). The 4050-seat Michigan Theater was built by the architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp and opened in August 1926 The Birmingham Theatre and the Royal Oak Theatre opened in 1927. The 2,051-seat Redford Theatre, which still features its original Barton organ , opened in January 1928. The Fisher Theatre Designed by the firm of Graven & Mayger

612-508: The Frohman brothers, Hodkinson and Goldwyn were out by 1917. In 1919, the company bought 135 theaters in the Southern states, making the producing concern the first that guaranteed exhibition of its own product in its own theaters. He revolutionized the film industry by organizing production, distribution, and exhibition within a single company. Zukor believed in employing stars. He signed many of

648-642: The King-Trendle Broadcasting Company and its radio stations for $ 3.65 million. This sale was for the broadcast facilities (including WOOD, WXYZ and the Michigan Regional Network), but did not include ownership of Trendle's radio programs. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved ABC's purchase on July 18, 1946. In 1952, Paramount Theaters, owner of Kunsky's former theaters, purchased ABC, including WXYZ. John Kunsky earned his wealth by building movie theaters and wished for

684-566: The company file for bankruptcy. A bank-mandated reorganization team kept the company intact, and, miraculously, Zukor was able to return as production chief. On June 4, 1935, John E. Otterson became president. When Barney Balaban was appointed president on July 2, 1936, Zukor was relegated to chairman of the board. He eventually spent most of his time in New York City, but passed the winter months in Hollywood to check on his studio. He retired from Paramount Pictures in 1959 and in 1964, stepped down as chairman and assumed Chairman Emeritus status,

720-437: The early ones, including Mary Pickford , Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle , Marguerite Clark , Pauline Frederick , Douglas Fairbanks , Gloria Swanson , Rudolph Valentino , and Wallace Reid . With so many important players, Zukor also pioneered " Block Booking " for Paramount Pictures, which meant that an exhibitor who wanted a particular star's films had to buy a year's worth of other Paramount productions. That system gave Paramount

756-593: The financial backing of the Frohman brothers , the powerful New York City theatre impresarios. Their primary goal was to bring noted stage actors to the screen and Zukor went on to produce The Prisoner of Zenda (1913). He purchased an armory on 26th Street in Manhattan and converted it into Chelsea Studios , a movie studio that is still used today. In 1916, the company merged with Jesse L. Lasky 's company to form Famous Players–Lasky . The Paramount Pictures Corporation

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792-599: The focus of an antitrust suit initiated by the Society of Independent Motion Pictures (SIMPP). As part of the deal, Trendle and Kunsky were required never to re-enter the movie business in Detroit. Trendle and Kunsky formed the Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company in 1929, after purchasing Detroit radio station WGHP. The radio station's call letters were changed to WXYZ . Trendle was the President and Kunsky

828-729: The new West Coast operations. Lasky and Zukor purchased the Robert Brunton Studios, a 26-acre facility at 5451 Marathon Street, for US$ 1 million. In 1927, Famous Players–Lasky took the name Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. In 1930, because of the importance of the Publix Theatres, it became the Paramount Publix Corporation. By then, Zukor was turning out 60 features a year. He made deals to show them all in theaters controlled by Loew's Incorporated , and also continued to add more theaters to his own chain. By 1920, he

864-420: The project would make money, a five-story office building was built around the theater. This was the start of a Detroit tradition of building movie theaters as part of an office block development. The Madison was a success and Kunsky and Crane built ever larger and more lavish theaters. The Capitol Theater opened in 1922. Although Kunsky boasted it had 4,250 seats, it actually had more like 3,384 seats (it became

900-419: The s/s Rugia on March 1 and arrived in New York City under the name Adolf Zuckery on March 16, 1891. Like most immigrants, he began modestly. After landing in New York City, he began working in an upholstery shop. A friend then got him a job as an apprentice at a furrier . Zukor stayed in New York City for two years. When he left to become a "contract" worker, sewing fur pieces and selling them himself, he

936-410: The theater with a maximum capacity of 1700; general admission , cabaret , and theatre. General admission holds up to 1700 patrons, cabaret holds 782, seating 562 on the main floor and 200 in the mezzanine, and the theatre set up holds 1000, 718 on the floor and 282 in the mezzanine. Comedian shows have 1500 with standing room, but 1050 with seats. John H. Kunsky John H. Kunsky (1875–1952)

972-639: Was 20 years old and an accomplished designer. He was young and adventuresome, and the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago drew him to the Midwest. There he started a fur business. In the second season of operation, Zukor's Novelty Fur Company expanded to 25 men and opened a branch. Historian Neal Gabler wrote, "one of the stubborn fallacies of movie history is that the men who created the film industry were all impoverished young vulgarians..." Zukor clearly didn't fit this profile. By 1903, he already looked and lived like

1008-481: Was a Detroit area businessman who made his fortune by investing in movie theaters . He later became partners with George W. Trendle and invested in radio. Kunsky had been an early investor in Nickelodeons beginning in 1905. During the first decade of the 20th century, small vaudeville style theaters were used for stage and film. The Bijou was one of several small nickelodeon theater owned by Kunsky. Kunsky made

1044-587: Was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures . He produced one of America's first feature-length films , The Prisoner of Zenda , in 1913. Zukor was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Ricse , in the Kingdom of Hungary in January 1873, which was then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, Jacob, who operated a general store, died when he

1080-462: Was a toddler, while his mother, Hannah Liebermann, died when he was 7 years old. Adolph and his brother Arthur moved in with Kalman Liebermann, their uncle. Liebermann, a rabbi , expected his nephews to become rabbis, but instead Adolph served a three-year apprenticeship in the dry goods store of family friends. When he was 16, he decided to emigrate to the United States. He sailed from Hamburg on

1116-475: Was driven out of the theater business when Adolph Zukor acquired the Detroit area film exchange known as the Cooperative Booking Office and began pressuring local theater owners to sell out to Paramount . Trendle negotiated to sell Kunsky's theatres for six million dollars. Zukor transferred the theaters to a Paramount subsidiary named United Detroit Theatres . In 1948, Paramount's monopoly became

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1152-442: Was formed to distribute films made by Famous Players–Lasky and a dozen smaller companies which were pulled into Zukor's corporate giant. The consolidations led to the formation of a nationwide film distribution system. In 1917, Zukor acquired 50% of Lewis J. Selznick 's Select Pictures which led Selznick's publicity to wane. Later, however, Selznick bought out Zukor's share of Select Pictures. Zukor shed most of his early partners;

1188-466: Was in a position to charge what he wished for film rentals. Thus he pioneered the concept, now the accepted practice in the film industry, by which the distributor charges the exhibitor a percentage of box-office receipts. Zukor, ever the impresario, bought a huge plot of ground at Broadway and 43d Street, over objections of his board of directors, to build the Paramount Theater and office building,

1224-509: Was on the air from 8am to Noon, and WOOD from Noon to Midnight. WOOD-WASH became an NBC Red affiliate in 1935. King and Trendle decided to drop the WASH license in 1942, keeping the WOOD identification. Kunsky legally changed his name to King in 1936 and the 'Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company' became the 'King-Trendle Broadcasting Company'. In 1946, the newly formed American Broadcasting Company purchased

1260-447: Was the last of Kunsky's theaters, opening in 1928. It could seat 2,975 in its plush auditorium seats. The interior featured two balconies, an orchestra pit, a 4-manual/36-rank Wurlitzer organ . In the lobby, there was a goldfish pond, real banana trees , and macaws which patrons could feed by hand. By 1928, Kunsky owned twenty movie theaters, including four of the largest first-run theaters in Detroit. Kunsky Theatres included: Kunsky

1296-570: Was the vice president of the company. Trendle was active as the station manager. Kunsky is rarely mentioned, except as co-owner. WXYZ was initially affiliated with the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) but became an independent station within a year. In 1931, Kunsky-Trendle acquired WASH and WOOD in Grand Rapids, Michigan . The two stations merged facilities, including studios and transmitters but retained both station licenses. WASH

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