Winfield Sheehan on AllMovie

Studio executive Winfield Sheehan was closely associated with 20th Century Fox studios. A native of Buffalo, NY, Sheehan served in the Spanish-American War as a teen. After working as a cub reporter he became a police reporter for New York's Evening World in the early 1900s. In 1910, Sheehan became the fire commissioner's secretary and in 1911 performed similar duties for the police commissioner. In the latter capacity, he helped the newly established studio of William Fox stay afloat in the face of increasing pressure to fold from the Motion Picture Patents Company, which routinely absorbed, intimidated, and ultimately destroyed most fledgling studios. The Fox case played a vital role in the destruction of the Motion Picture Patents Company's absolute control. Afterward, Sheehan became William Fox's personal secretary and two years later became the studio's general manager and vice president. He then served as Fox's chief of production until 1935 when the studio became part of 20th Century. After that, Sheehan became an independent producer.