Joseph_Vogel_(executive)

Joseph Vogel (executive)

Joseph Vogel (executive)

American film studio executive

Joseph Richard Vogel (September 7, 1895 – March 1, 1969) was an American executive best known for his stint at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including a reign as president from 1956 to 1963.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Biography

Vogel was born in New York and attended Townsend Harris High School. He started working part-time as an usher at the Loew's Palace Theatre in Brownsville, Brooklyn and at age 18 was appointed manager of the Fulton Theatre for Loew's.[1] He became the manager of Loew's State Theatre in New York City when it opened in August 1921.[2] He worked his way up Loew's Theatres and by 1934 was in charge of all their theatres outside New York. In 1939 he became a director of Loew's Inc. and by 1945 became director for all their theatres.[1]

In 1954 following a government decree separating Loew's production and distribution actives from the exhibition company, Vogel was elected president of Loew's Theatres Inc.[3][1]

MGM presidency

In October 1956 Vogel replaced Arthur M. Loew, son of founder Marcus Loew, as president of Loew's Inc., which was renamed MGM Inc.[4][5][1]

MGM had been loss-making and had to deal with a significant corporate turmoil, including a takeover attempt in 1957 from former president Louis B. Mayer in association with two board members, Stanley Meyer and Joseph Tomlinson. Mayer attacked Vogel calling him a "fool" and not "capable of filling the post – no more capable of filling it than you would be fighting the heavyweight champion."[6] However Vogel managed to fight off the takeover attempt and Mayer died of leukemia in 1957.[7]

Vogel and his head of production Sol Siegel initially enjoyed a number of successful years at MGM, green lighting such movies as Gigi (1958), North by Northwest (1959), King of Kings (1961) and most notably Ben-Hur (1959).[8] Gigi and Ben-Hur won the Academy Award for Best Picture back-to-back.[1] Ben-Hur, which Vogel had insisted be made against the will of the board, was the second highest-grossing film of all time behind the studio's Gone With the Wind and helped make the company profitable again.[5] He also made the costly How the West Was Won (1962) against the will of the board, but it was also a hit.[5]

However he also oversaw a number of expensive flops, such as the remakes of Cimarron (1960), Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1961), and especially Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), which ultimately caused millions in losses.[5]

Vogel was forced to resign in January 1963, replaced by Robert O'Brien and was moved upstairs to the role of chairman.[1] Four months later he retired to Palm Beach, Florida.[1] He had surgery for brain cancer and died at Palm Beach hospital on March 1, 1969, of a heart attack.[3][1][5] He was survived by a wife Lena and son Richard.[1] He was the brother of cinematographer Paul C. Vogel.

In 1959 he was made Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic following completion of Ben-Hur.[5]

Notable films under his presidency

References

  1. [1]
    "JOSEPH VOGEL, 73, OF M-G-M IS DEAD". The New York Times. March 2, 1969. p. 80.
  2. [2]
    "Broadway Brushes Self Off". Variety. April 1, 1959. p. 5. Retrieved June 30, 2019 – via Archive.org.
  3. [3]
    "Joseph Vogel, Ex-President and Chairman of MGM, Dies at 73". Los Angeles Times. Mar 2, 1969. p. B.
  4. [4]
    "Joseph Vogel New President of Loew's Inc". Los Angeles Times. Oct 19, 1956. p. 7.
  5. [5]
    "Proxy Battle-Scarred Joe Vogel, Of Metro No-Fun Era, Is Dead". Variety. March 5, 1969. p. 4.
  6. [6]
    "Mayer Denies Role in MGM Power Struggle: Former Studio Head Calls ...". Los Angeles Times. July 24, 1957. p. 14 – via ProQuest.
  7. [7]
    "CORPORATIONS: Gun Fight at the M-G-M Corral". Time Magazine. Aug 5, 1957. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011.
  8. [8]
    "MGM to Make Huge Schedule of New Films". Los Angeles Times. Jan 22, 1958. p. B20 – via ProQuest.
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