Carl Laemmle, Jr.

Carl Laemmle, Jr. was the son of Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures. Laemmle, Jr. ran Universal's production from 1928 to 1936. Among the films produced under his leadership, the most pivotal was the 1931 adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel, Dracula, which Laemmle took a keen interest in. He also spearheaded movie's contemporary film, Frankenstein as well as The Mummy, The Invisible Man and The Bride of Frankenstein. Both father and son were known for gross displays of nepotism, and many of the crew members within the company were direct relatives of the Laemmle's. In fact, Carl Junior's young niece, Carla Laemmle, had a cameo role and the first speaking lines in Dracula. Carl Junior was known for funneling massive amounts of money into his projects, and even though his films were lucrative, their profits didn't equal the amount of money that Carl and his father had been investing in them. By the mid 1930s, Universal executives decided that they had had enough of the Laemmles and they were ran out of the company.