Ossip Schencker (; ) was born to a
Jewish family in
Rybinsk,
Yaroslavl Oblast,
Russian Empire. He emigrated to
New York City on July 19, 1892, under the name
Ossip Schenker; and with his younger brother
Nicholas eventually got into the entertainment business, operating concessions at New York's
Fort George Amusement Park. Recognizing the potential, in 1909 the Schenck brothers purchased
Palisades Amusement Park and afterward became participants in the fledgling motion picture industry in partnership with
Marcus Loew, operating a chain of movie theaters. In 1916, through his involvement in the film business, Joseph Schenck met and married
Norma Talmadge, a top young star with
Vitagraph Studios. He would be the first of her three husbands, but she was his only wife. Schenck supervised, controlled and nurtured her career in alliance with her mother. In 1917, the couple formed the Norma Talmadge Film Corporation, which became a lucrative enterprise. They divorced in 1934; Schenck then built a home in
Palm Springs, California. After parting ways with his brother, Joseph Schenck moved to the
West Coast where the future of the film industry seemed to lie. Within a few years Schenck was made the second president of the new
United Artists.
The Political Graveyard reports that he was an alternate delegate from California to the
1928 Republican National Convention. Schenck outspokenly opposed the Democratic Party candidate,
Upton Sinclair, in the
1934 California gubernatorial election. He threatened to move
Twentieth Century Fox to Florida should Sinclair be elected. In 1933, he partnered with
Darryl F. Zanuck to form
Twentieth Century Pictures to produce motion pictures for
United Artists, until 20th Century merged with
Fox Film in 1935. As chairman of the new
20th Century-Fox, he was one of the most powerful and influential people in the film business. Caught in a payoff scheme to buy peace with the militant
unions, he was convicted of income tax evasion and spent time in prison. He was granted a
presidential pardon by
Harry Truman in 1945. Following his release, he returned to 20th Century Fox where he became infatuated with the then unknown
Marilyn Monroe, and played a key role in launching her career. In 1941 Schenck was convicted of
tax evasion, receiving a sentence of three years in prison and a $20,000 fine. He was found to have defrauded the government of $189,000 in taxes in 1935 and of $64,000 in 1936. An appeal to the
United States Circuit Court of Appeals was unanimously rejected in 1942.{{cite news |title=CONVICTION UPHELD IN SCHENCK CASE; Appeals Court Finds Ex-Film Head Was Fairly Tried for Income Tax Evasion DECISION IS UNANIMOUS Judge's Charge Called 'Correct Statement' -- Moskowitz Also Loses Move to Escape Jail ==Honors==