Louis_B_Mayer_and_Joan_Crawford.jpg: Los Angeles Times derivative work: Sherool (talk) · CC BY 4.0

Born Lazar Meir and raised in poverty in Saint John, New Brunswick, he parlayed a single renovated vaudeville theatre into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which he built with Irving Thalberg into the best-resourced studio in Hollywood, home to more stars and prestige productions than any rival. Mayer prized what he called "wholesome entertainment" and discovered and shaped many of the era's biggest names, though his control extended into performers' private lives, and his treatment of Judy Garland — pushed onto diets and stimulants to keep pace with punishing shooting schedules — is among the most documented costs of the studio system he ran.