Robert Laemmle, 89, President of Laemmle Theatres, whose household is a Hollywood dynasty (his father Max was a cousin of Carl Laemmle, founding father of Common Footage), died January 9 in Santa Monica, California, the place he had been receiving hospice care.
Born in Paris, France on September 5, 1935, he got here to the US together with his household forward of World Struggle II in 1938. Max and his brother Kurt quickly after opened two theaters within the Highland Park space of Los Angeles. Over later many years they expanded to turn out to be the town’s pre-eminent chain of artwork homes, with vital affect within the general business.
After graduating from Cal State he obtained an M.B.A. from UCLA. Briefly working as a banker, he joined his dad in theatrical enterprise in early 1961. Over the subsequent 4 many years they expanded the circuit to such distinguished theaters because the Royal in West Los Angeles (nonetheless working), the Music Corridor, in addition to different areas within the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, and elsewhere. In 1991 they opened the Sundown 5, which instantly grew to become the pre-eminent specialised location within the metropolis.
They at the moment function seven theaters with 44 screens round Los Angeles, together with the NoHo 7, which simply this weekend set a home file in the course of the fireplace emergency with “Extraordinarily Distinctive Dynamic,” the type of eclectic, unbiased movie Bob would have championed. Laemmle is now run by Robert’s son Greg, the third era to participate in what’s nowadays a uncommon multi-generational native household run circuit.
Among the many honors in his life was the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from France in recognition of Laemmle Theatres elevated dedication to subtitled movies, French and in any other case. For years, the theater’s newspaper advertisements included the phrase “Not Afraid of Subtitles.”
Bob Laemmle (proper) with son Greg and grandsons Gabriel, Nadaz, and Ezra
Bob is survived by his spouse Michelle, 9 kids, and 18 grandchildren. Companies can be held at 10 a.m. Monday, January 12, at Mount Sinai, 5950 Forest Garden Drive, Los Angeles, with visitation on the household dwelling in Santa Monica afterward.
IndieWire reached out to movie business colleagues to get this outpouring of recollections and tributes:
“My condolences to Bob’s total household. Bob is the rationale specialised movie exists in Los Angeles. His household was within the film enterprise. Bob ran an Artwork Film Circuit, Laemmle Theatres. He confirmed documentaries and overseas language movies. Nobody else did that. Within the day, these working theatres have been often retread outdated cinema buildings that had outlived their business life. His optimism and imaginative and prescient allowed enlargement. Bob grew the enterprise by opening a theatre in a brand new constructing, the Sundown 5 in West Hollywood. His enlargement continued. No extra outdated and worn out theatres. He rewarded his audiences, together with me, with movies like Sling Blade. What a deal with! He was really The Los Angeles Movie Pioneer. God Bless, Bob.” (Ted Mundorff — veteran Los Angeles exhibitor and movie purchaser, together with Arclight and Landmark Theatres)
“The Laemmle triumvirate have been mythic and indispensable figures in my profession as a distributor and a filmmaker for 50 years…and to all the international unbiased movie panorama for twice as lengthy. Bob’s loss is catastrophic however his legacy is a blessing and can endure for a lot of extra generations. A gathering with Bob within the household’s places of work above the Royal may very well be life-altering in the easiest method potential. His style, generosity, and dedication to unbiased movie was singular. Had been it not for Bob, and now Greg, there could be no properties for unbiased movies in Los Angeles at this time, I’m sure of that. To paraphrase Academy Award nominee Chief Dan George, ‘Bob was a human being.’” (Jeff Lipsky — co-founder of October Movies)
“Bob was a titan in life: within the arthouse world, in LA, on the courts of his youth and naturally in your loved ones. So happy I bought to know him slightly bit and that period that included different instinctively unbiased theater operators/programmers across the nation who insisted on high quality, curation, intimacy and palms on operation all of the whereas exposing US audiences to the best Worldwide filmmaking, influencing cinema style and creating an ordinary for a way cinema must be greatest skilled.” (Ed Arentz — co-president, Greenwich Leisure)
“I can keep in mind seeing three generations of Laemmles going to commerce screenings within the valley, sitting collectively as Los Angeles movie royalty, seeing Max, Bob, and Greg collectively, speaking about movie and with the ability to converse with them is among the fondest recollections I’ve about this enterprise. As a younger man getting into into the business in my 20s, Bob was all the time beneficiant giving me data, introducing me to individuals to open doorways and giving me a eager understanding of exhibition, however he made me perceive that their may very well be integrity on this enterprise. I’ll miss Bob, however he handed on his fantastic sensibility, duty to group, and love for cinema to Greg and his sons to hold the torch.” (Marcus Hu — co-president, Strand Releasing)
“Bob Laemmle was a large in lots of senses of the phrase. He was beneficiant, considerate and type whereas nonetheless being a troublesome businessman, qualities hardly ever present in one individual. He was a strong hyperlink in a generational legacy. We received’t see the likes of him once more and I really feel fortunate to have had the privilege of figuring out and studying from him.” (Richard Abramowitz — veteran distributor, founding father of Abramorama)
“Bob Laemmle was one of many icons of the unbiased movie enterprise. He was there firstly within the Nineteen Seventies when the smaller theater house owners combating for survival would discover new films that nobody had ever heard of, at locations like Cannes and Telluride, in search of films speaking to distributors telling them these are the flicks they wished to play. These exhibitors had a really distinctive viewers. They promoted movies in a method that was distinctive, completely different from the foremost theater chains. Bob and Laemmle Theatres survived all of them. Earlier than Bob there was Bob’s father Max, and now Bob’s son Greg who at the moment runs the chain. There was Dan Talbot and Don Rugoff in New York, Larry Edwards in Chicago, Randy Finley in Seattle, and Mel Novikof in San Francisco. The truth that Bob Laemmle alone prevailed is a large tribute to him on this planet of unbiased movie. We have been all fortunate to have a man like Bob Laemmle as our chief, a person with nice style in movies (in addition to wine). He fought the battles to maintain the flicks enjoying within the artwork theaters and to maintain them enjoying for a protracted time period when the large circuits would play them for every week and throw them off. In Bob’s theaters films like ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ and so many others might play for over a yr! Bob was one in all a sort. He modified the best way the enterprise labored and his affect continues to be felt at this time with Laemmle Theatres nonetheless waving the flag for unbiased films. There are such a lot of masterpieces in world cinema: from Bergman to Fellini to Kurosawa to Service provider-Ivory to Agnes Varda, so many over these 60 plus years that will not have been seen by large numbers of individuals spanning a number of generations if it weren’t for Bob Laemmle. Bob, we are going to miss you, we are going to all the time keep in mind you.” (Tom Bernard — co-president, Sony Footage Classics)
“Bob was distinctive in his many abilities and powerful, good values. He was very clever. Exorbitantly beneficiant together with his data, nothing much less. Deeply caring for all the things he encountered. And all the time, all the time accessible with prepared steering. Most attribute about him was he was filled with understanding and perception. He was a large in my profession and in so lots of our lives. His passing is all our loss. Irreplaceable.” (Jack Foley — former president, Focus Options)
“I had identified Bob for the reason that Eighties after I was a movie purchaser for the now defunct Common Cinema, a business movie show chain, and met him, his father Max, and son Greg at commerce screenings. Later, after I labored at Landmark Theatres, a specialised exhibitor, I used to be launched to the expanded function of the exhibitor within the specialised movie enterprise, coping with dozens of medium dimension and micro-distributors who deal with foreign-language movies, American Indies, documentaries, and repertory releases. As a specialised exhibitor, and in contrast to business theaters who dealt principally with the studios, we had direct enter into launch dates, advertising and marketing technique, and inventive session. In fact, Bob and the Laemmles had been doing this all alongside, and have been pioneers in that regard. Though we have been now opponents, we have been pleasant rivals and handled one another with mutual respect. Within the present theatrical panorama with arthouses dealing with an unsure future, Bob’s passing reinforces the well timed notion that we have now reached the tip of an period. RIP.” (Michael McClellan — former head movie purchaser, Landmark Theatres)
“Within the Eighties and 90s, my spouse and I appeared ahead to seeing Bob Laemmle at LAX because the “regulars” boarded a constitution flight to the Telluride Movie Competition. It was positively jarring the primary yr he didn’t (or couldn’t) attend. If it’s true {that a} fish stinks from the pinnacle down then the other should even be true. Each staffer at each Laemmle theater mirrored the friendliness and enthusiasm of their boss. He really cared about movies and filmmakers in addition to his clients.” (Leonard Maltin — movie critic and historian)
“Bob lived a really full and lengthy life providing the general public fantastic choices for viewing some distinctive movies over time.” (Linda Ditrinco — former govt VP, Focus Options)
“Bob Laemmle was the type of competitor we must always all be so fortunate to share the enterprise with as Landmark and Laemmle Theatres helped one another out when one thing was wanted whilst we competed for movies and audiences. We additionally shared concepts and even did some cross promotion. (Gary Meyer — co-founder of Landmark Theatres)
“He was a mild large with an enormous coronary heart and tons of integrity. I’ll miss him very a lot.” (M.J. Peckos — Dada Movies)