Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner

 Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner (August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978)

He was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Warner's career spanned some forty-five years, its duration surpassing that of any other of the seminal Hollywood studio moguls. As co-head of production at Warner Bros. Studios, he worked with his brother, Sam Warner, to procure the technology for the film industry's first talking picture. After Sam's death, Jack clashed with his surviving older brothers, Harry and Albert Warner. He assumed exclusive control of the film production company in the 1950s, when he secretly purchased his brothers' shares in the business after convincing them to participate in a joint sale of stocks. An opponent of Communism, after the war Warner appeared as a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee, voluntarily naming screenwriters who had been fired as suspected Communists or sympathizers. Despite his controversial public image, Warner remained a force in the motion picture industry until his retirement in the early 1970s. In 1974, the former studio chief suffered a stroke that left him blind and enfeebled. During the next several years, he gradually lost the ability to speak and became unresponsive to friends and relatives. In 1978, Jack Warner died at age 86 from heart inflammation, and is buried at Home of Peace Memorial Park (East Los Angeles, across from Calvary Cemetery).