B.P. Schulberg on AllMovie

While a student at New York's City College, American film executive B.P. Schulberg broke into the professional world as a cub newspaper reporter. At age 19, Schulberg became a scriptwriter and publicity agent for Rex Films, a small company later absorbed by Universal. Moving to Jesse Lasky and Adolph Zukor's Famous Players (the forerunner of Paramount), Schulberg used his publicity savvy to drum up business for the films of such stage luminaries as Sarah Bernhardt and James O'Neill. After functioning successfully in the studio system, Schulberg set up his own small studio, Arrow Productions, in the early '20s. The studio made a star out of Clara Bow -- who, according to first-hand accounts (including those of Schulberg's son, writer Budd Schulberg), was also Schulberg's mistress. Schulberg was put in charge of Paramount's West Coast studios in 1928, where he maintained an excellent track record until going independent again in 1932. After several bumpy and generally unprofitable years, Schulberg returned to Paramount with his own B-unit; he ended up as a staff producer at Columbia Pictures, where (it is said) he was kept around principally as a "whipping boy" for Columbia's sadistic chieftain, Harry Cohn. Dispirited, B.P. Schulberg struck out as an independent again after World War II, but never again was able to line up a film project.