Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global. It is the fifth oldest film studio in the world, the second oldest film studio in the United States, and the sole member of the "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles.
Adolph Zukor 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.
C. W. & George L. Rapp, commonly known as Rapp & Rapp, was an American architectural firm famed for the design of movie palaces and other theatres. Active from 1906 to 1965 and based in Chicago, the office designed over 400 theatres, including the Chicago Theatre (1921), Bismarck Hotel and Theatre (1926) and Oriental Theater (1926) in Chicago, the Five Flags Center (1910) in Dubuque, Iowa and the Paramount Theatres in New York City (1926) and Aurora, Illinois (1931).
Robert Elmer Balaban is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for Gosford Park (2001), in which he also appeared.
Leonard H. Goldenson was the founder and president of the United States-based television network American Broadcasting Company (ABC), from 1953 to 1986. Goldenson, as CEO of United Paramount Theatres, acquired a then-struggling ABC from candy industrialist Edward J. Noble. Goldenson focused on investing heavily on sports and news coverage along with creating synergy between Hollywood studios and television networks. Goldenson turned ABC into a media conglomerate, owning television and radio stations along with newspapers and book publishers. His innovations with ABC in terms of programming and media synergy would have lasting implications on the American television industry, and be emulated by leadership of other networks. He was portrayed in the 2002 TNT movie Monday Night Mayhem by Eli Wallach.
The Loew's Wonder Theatres were movie palaces of the Loew's Theatres chain in and near New York City. These five lavishly designed theaters were built by Loew's to establish its preeminence in film exhibition in the metropolitan New York City area and to serve as the chain's flagship venues, each in its own area. All five theaters are still standing. One operates as a community performing arts center; one is a commercial live entertainment venue; and three are currently used as churches, with one of those also used for entertainment.
The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz (B&K) group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaban and partner Sam Katz. Along with the other B&K theaters, from 1925 to 1945 the Chicago Theatre was a dominant movie theater enterprise. Currently, Madison Square Garden, Inc. owns and operates the Chicago Theatre as a performing arts venue for stage plays, magic shows, comedy, speeches, sporting events and popular music concerts.
The Granada Theatre was a 3,400–seat movie palace located at 6427-41 North Sheridan Road in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was constructed in 1926 for the Marks Brothers, who were major theatre operators in the U.S. Edward E. Eichenbaum was the principal designer for the architectural firm of Levy & Klein. Eichenbaum also designed the Marbro, Regal, and Century theatres.
Balaban and Katz Theater Corporation, or B&K, was a theatre corporation which owned a chain of motion picture theaters in Chicago and surrounding areas. It was founded by Barney Balaban, his six siblings, and Sam Katz.
The Riviera Theatre is a concert venue located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Plitt Theatres was a major movie theater chain in the United States and went under a number of names, Publix Theaters Corporation, Paramount Publix Corporation, United Paramount Theatres, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres and ABC Theatres and operated a number of theater circuits under various names.
Balaban is a surname, from a Turkic word meaning "robust", "burly", or a Ukrainian word meaning "hawk". Notable people with the surname include:
The Tivoli Theatre was a movie palace at 6323 South Cottage Grove Avenue, at East 63rd Street, in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago's South Side. It was the first of the "big three" movie palaces built by the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by brothers A. J. Balaban, Barney Balaban and their partner Sam Katz, who were also owners of the Rivera Theater and the Central Park Theater, that opened on 16 February 1921.
Leonard "Red" Balaban was an American jazz tubist and sousaphonist. He also played banjo, stand-up bass, slide trombone, ukulele and rhythm guitar.
Abraham Joseph Balaban, known as A. J. Balaban or Abe Balaban, was an American showman whose particular influence on popular entertainment in the early 20th century led to enormous innovations in the American movie-going experience.
American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. was the post-merger parent company of the American Broadcasting Company and United Paramount Theatres.
Burt Balaban was an American film producer and director.
Henry G. Plitt was an American businessman and war hero who founded Plitt Theatres.
Elmer Balaban was an American theater owner and early cable television provider.
Central Park Theater is a historic theater building at 3531-39 W. Roosevelt Road in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1917, the theater was the first in the Balaban and Katz chain. Chicago architectural firm Rapp and Rapp designed the Spanish Revival building; their design led them to become the main architects for Balaban and Katz, and later for Paramount Pictures. The firm's design featured two prominent towers on its front facade and was decorated with red brick and terra cotta. The theater was also the first in the world to include mechanical air conditioning, which featured prominently in its advertising during the summer. It provided entertainment to both Lawndale's Jewish community and the African-American community that replaced it in the 1950s, and it is one of the few remaining Lawndale business from the early twentieth century. The theatre was the inspiration for the well known Call of Duty Zombies map, Kino Der Toten.
