Robert Laemmle, 89, president of Laemmle Theatres, died January 9 in Santa Monica, California, where he was in rehabilitation care after a recent fall. He was part of a Hollywood dynasty; his father Max was a cousin of Universal Pictures founder Carl Laemmle.
Born in Paris, France on September 5, 1935, he came to the United States with his family ahead of World War II in 1938. Soon after, Max and his brother Kurt opened two theaters in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles. Over decades they expanded to become the city’s pre-eminent chain of art houses, with significant influence in the overall industry.
After graduating from Cal State he received an MBA. from UCLA. Briefly working as a banker, he joined his dad in theatrical business in early 1961. Over the next four decades they expanded the circuit to such prominent theaters as the Royal in West Los Angeles (still operating), the Music Hall, and other locations including the San Fernando Valley and Pasadena. In 1991 the Laemmles opened the Sunset 5, which immediately became the city’s pre-eminent specialized location.
They currently operate seven theaters with 44 screens around Los Angeles, including the NoHo 7, which just this weekend set a house record in the middle of the fire emergency with “Extremely Unique Dynamic” — the kind of eclectic, independent film Bob would have championed. Laemmle is now run by Robert’s son Greg, the third generation to take part in what is these days a rare multi-generational, local, family-run circuit.
Among the honors in his life was the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from France in recognition of Laemmle Theatres’ elevated commitment to subtitled films, French and otherwise. For years, the theater’s newspaper ads included the phrase “Not Afraid of Subtitles.”
Bob Laemmle (right) with son Greg and grandsons Gabriel, Nadav, and Ezra
Bob is survived by his wife Michelle, nine children, and 18 grandchildren. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, January 13, at Mount Sinai, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, with visitation at the family home in Santa Monica afterward.
IndieWire reached out to film industry colleagues to get this outpouring of memories and tributes:
“My condolences to Bob’s entire family. Bob is the reason specialized film exists in Los Angeles. His family was in the movie business. Bob ran an Art Movie Circuit, Laemmle Theatres. He showed documentaries and foreign language films. No one else did that. In the day, those operating theatres were usually retread old cinema buildings that had outlived their commercial life. His optimism and vision allowed expansion. Bob grew the business by opening a theatre in a new building, the Sunset 5 in West Hollywood. His expansion continued. No more old and worn out theatres. He rewarded his audiences, including me, with films like Sling Blade. What a treat! He was truly The Los Angeles Film Pioneer. God Bless, Bob.”
– Ted Mundorff, veteran Los Angeles exhibitor and film buyer, including Arclight and Landmark Theatres
“The Laemmle triumvirate have been mythic and indispensable figures in my career as a distributor and a filmmaker for fifty years…and to the entire global independent film landscape for twice as long. Bob’s loss is catastrophic but his legacy is a blessing and will endure for many more generations. A meeting with Bob in the family’s offices above the Royal could be life-altering in the very best way possible. His taste, generosity, and dedication to independent film was singular. Were it not for Bob, and now Greg, there would be no homes for independent films in Los Angeles today, I’m certain of that. To paraphrase Academy Award nominee Chief Dan George, ‘Bob was a human being.’”
– Jeff Lipsky, co-founder of October Films
“Bob was a titan in life: in the arthouse world, in LA, on the courts of his youth and of course in your family. So pleased I got to know him a little bit and that era that included other instinctively independent theater operators/programmers around the country who insisted on quality, curation, intimacy and hands on operation all the while exposing US audiences to the greatest International filmmaking, influencing cinema taste and creating a standard for how cinema should be best experienced.”
– Ed Arentz, co-president, Greenwich Entertainment
“I can remember seeing three generations of Laemmles going to trade screenings in the valley, sitting together as Los Angeles film royalty, seeing Max, Bob, and Greg together, talking about film and being able to converse with them is one of the fondest memories I have about this business. As a young man entering into the industry in my 20s, Bob was always generous giving me information, introducing me to people to open doors and giving me a keen understanding of exhibition, but he made me understand that their could be integrity in this business. I’ll miss Bob, but he passed on his wonderful sensibility, responsibility to community, and love for cinema to Greg and his sons to carry the torch.”
– Marcus Hu, co-president, Strand Releasing
“Bob Laemmle was a giant in many senses of the word. He was generous, thoughtful and kind while still being a tough businessman, qualities rarely found in one person. He was a powerful link in a generational legacy. We won’t see the likes of him again and I feel lucky to have had the privilege of knowing and learning from him.”
– Richard Abramowitz, veteran distributor, founder of Abramorama
“Bob Laemmle was one of the icons of the independent film business. He was there at the beginning in the 1970s when the smaller theater owners fighting for survival would find new movies that no one had ever heard of, at places like Cannes and Telluride, looking for movies talking to distributors telling them these are the movies they wanted to play. These exhibitors had a very unique audience. They promoted films in a way that was unique, different from the major theater chains. Bob and Laemmle Theatres survived them all. Before Bob there was Bob’s father Max, and now Bob’s son Greg who currently 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 fact that Bob Laemmle alone prevailed is a huge tribute to him in the world of independent film. We were all lucky to have a guy like Bob Laemmle as our leader, a man with great taste in films (as well as wine). He fought the battles to keep the movies playing in the art theaters and to keep them playing for a long period of time when the big circuits would play them for a week and throw them off. In Bob’s theaters movies like ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ and so many others could play for over a year! Bob was one of a kind. He changed the way the business worked and his influence is still felt today with Laemmle Theatres still waving the flag for independent movies. There are so many masterpieces in world cinema: from Bergman to Fellini to Kurosawa to Merchant-Ivory to Agnes Varda, so many over these 60 plus years that would not have been seen by huge numbers of people spanning several generations if it weren’t for Bob Laemmle. Bob, we will miss you, we will always remember you.”
– Tom Bernard, co-president, Sony Pictures Classics
“Bob was unique in his many talents and strong, good values. He was very wise. Exorbitantly generous with his knowledge, nothing less. Deeply caring for everything he encountered. And always, always available with ready guidance. Most characteristic about him was he was full of understanding and insight. He was a giant in my career and in so many of our lives. His passing is all our loss. Irreplaceable.”
– Jack Foley, former president, Focus Features
“I had known Bob since the 1980s when I was a film buyer for the now defunct General Cinema, a commercial movie theater chain, and met him, his father Max, and son Greg at trade screenings. Later, when I worked at Landmark Theatres, a specialized exhibitor, I was introduced to the expanded role of the exhibitor in the specialized film business, dealing with dozens of medium size and micro-distributors who handle foreign-language films, American Indies, documentaries, and repertory releases. As a specialized exhibitor, and unlike commercial theaters who dealt mostly with the studios, we had direct input into release dates, marketing strategy, and creative consultation. Of course, Bob and the Laemmles had been doing this all along, and were pioneers in that regard. Although we were now competitors, we were friendly rivals and treated each other with mutual respect. In the current theatrical landscape with arthouses facing an uncertain future, Bob’s passing reinforces the timely notion that we have reached the end of an era. RIP.”
– Michael McClellan, former head film buyer, Landmark Theatres
“In the 1980s and 90s, my wife and I looked forward to seeing Bob Laemmle at LAX as the “regulars” boarded a charter flight to the Telluride Film Festival. It was positively jarring the first year he didn’t (or couldn’t) attend. If it’s true that a fish stinks from the head down then the opposite must also be true. Every staffer at every Laemmle theater reflected the friendliness and enthusiasm of their boss. He truly cared about films and filmmakers as well as his customers.”
– Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian
“Bob lived a very full and long life offering the public wonderful options for viewing some exceptional films over the years.”
(Linda Ditrinco — former executive VP, Focus Features)
“Bob Laemmle was the kind of competitor we should all be so lucky to share the business with as Landmark and Laemmle Theatres helped each other out when something was needed even as we competed for films and audiences. We also shared ideas and even did some cross promotion.
– Gary Meyer, co-founder of Landmark Theatres
“He was a gentle giant with a huge heart and tons of integrity. I will miss him very much.”
– M.J. Peckos, Dada Films
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