The Real Monster of Hollywood: Louis B. Mayer

Rags to Riches

We hear a lot of “rags to riches” stories. A tale about an individual who started with nothing, but became something major. Louis B. Mayer is a perfect example; he was certainly a self-made man. According to actress Ann Rutherford, “if anybody on earth ever created himself, Louis B Mayer did.”

/pop-culture/the-monster-of-hollywood-louis-b-mayer/img/louisbmayer02_MobileImageSizeReigNN.jpg

Louis B Mayer. Photo by Kobal / Shutterstock

For starters, his real name wasn’t even really Louis Mayer. Back in July 1884, Lazar Meir was born far away from the glamourous life of showbiz. When he was a young child, his family moved to New Brunswick to give him a better life. Unfortunately, since his parents didn’t speak any English, the family was penniless.

© 2019 History by Day all rights reserved