Born Percival Schulberg in
Bridgeport, Connecticut, he took the name Benjamin from the boy in front of him when registering for school to avoid mockery for his name. Schulberg was impressed with
Edwin S. Porter's films and managed to get a job with the famous director as a scenario writer. The public later learned that it was Schulberg's idea to bring together the "Big-4" before they were ever founded. He was one of the founding members of the
Associated Motion Picture Advertisers. In 1919, at age 27, he founded
Preferred Pictures and built it around actress
Katherine MacDonald. In 1923, his old school-mate and associate Jack Bachman convinced him to offer a New York starlet, 18-year-old
Clara Bow, a three-month trial contract. Within days of her arrival, she was made part of the studio permanent stock. On October 21, 1925, Schulberg's Preferred Pictures filed for bankruptcy, with debts of $820,774 and assets of just $1,420 due to his addiction to gambling. Three days later it was announced that Schulberg would join with
Adolph Zukor and became associate producer of
Paramount Pictures, bringing his organization, i.e. Clara Bow. As head of production at Paramount, Schulberg produced hits starring Bow including
It and
Wings, which went on to win the first
Academy Award for Best Picture at the first
award ceremony in 1929. Schulberg used his background in publicity to create some of the best-known phrases and slogans in film. He dubbed
Mary Pickford "America's Sweetheart," and came up with the slogans "Famous Players in Famous Plays" and "If it's a Paramount Picture, it's the best show in town." During his time at Paramount, he also helped to launch the careers of
Cary Grant,
Ernst Lubitsch,
Emil Jannings,
Maurice Chevalier,
Marlene Dietrich and
Shirley Temple. In 1931, Paramount top-star
Clara Bow left the studio, and within a year Schulberg was "squeezed out" and went back to independent film-production. In 1937, Paramount stopped distributing his films and he remained out of the business until 1940 when he began producing for
Columbia Pictures. He produced six films for Columbia in three years. In 1950, after feeling forgotten and underappreciated by Hollywood, he unsuccessfully offered his services in the film trade papers. He suffered a stroke the same year and retired permanently. Schulberg died at his home in
Key Biscayne, Florida, on February 25, 1957. His son Budd stated in 1981 "I completely supported him for the last five years of his life". For his contribution to the motion picture industry, B. P. Schulberg has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine Street. The Paramount studios' "Production Building" was renamed the "Schulberg Building" in his honor. ==Personal life==