- Born
- Died
- Nickname
- Abe
- Abe Stern was born on March 8, 1888 in Hintersteinau, Germany. He was a producer, known for The Purple Mask (1916), Tee Time (1921) and The Little Rascal (1922). He was married to Hortense J. Westheimer and Jesse J. ???. He died on July 12, 1951 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
- SpousesHortense J. Westheimer(February 11, 1923 - ?) (his death, 1 child)Jesse J. ???(? - 1921?)
- Child: Barbara Westheimer Stern (b. 10 October 1927)
- Co-founder, with brother Julius Stern, of Century Film Corp., a production company in 1917. The company went out of business in 1929.
- In the last decade of the silent era, Abe Stern and his brother Julius produced nearly 550 low-budget comedy shorts for release by Universal. Their little studio was located at Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street, the very heart of Hollywood's "Poverty Row". In 1929, forced to choose between an expensive upgrade to talkies or going out of business, the Stern Bros. opted for the latter.
- A director once asked Abe Stern if he could film at a particular outdoor location in California, because the landscape was vital to the story. Stern famously replied, "A rock is a rock, a tree is a tree. Shoot it in Griffith Park!" (The park was a 10-minute drive from the studio). His quote entered Hollywood lore as an example of a penny-pinching producer thwarting a director's vision. King Vidor immortalized Stern's words in his autobiography, "A Tree is a Tree" (1953).
- Brother-in-law of Universal head Carl Laemmle.
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