George K. Spoor (1872, Highland Park, Illinois – 24 November 1953, Chicago) was an early film pioneer who, with Broncho Billy Anderson, founded the historic Essanay Studios in Chicago in 1907. Spoor and Anderson were responsible for discovering stars such as Wallace Beery, Francis X. Bushman, Ben Turpin, Gloria Swanson, and Charlie Chaplin. Allan Dwan, who was hired as a screenwriter, went on to become a famous Hollywood director. Louella Parsons, also hired by Spoor as a screenwriter, later became a famous Hollywood gossip columnist. Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Incorporated City in 1869. ... November 24 is the 328th day (329th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country United States State Illinois County Cook & DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Broncho Billy Anderson (March 21, 1880 – January 20, 1971) was an American actor, writer, director, and producer, who is best-known as the first star of the Western film genre. ... Essanay Studios was a motion picture company founded in Chicago, Illinois by George K. Spoor and Bronco Billy Anderson under the name Essanay (S and A). It produced silent films with such stars as Ben Turpin, Wallace Beery, Francis X. Bushman, Gloria Swanson and Charlie Chaplin. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Wallace Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American actor, best known for his many cinema appearances. ... Francis X. Bushman Francis Xavier Bushman (January 10, 1883 – August 23, 1966) was the first major male movie star, first starting in 1911 in the silent film His Friends Wife. ... Ben Turpin (1869-1940) Ben Turpin (center) with two Mack Sennett Studios bathing beauties Ben Turpin (September 19, 1869 - July 1, 1940) was a comedian, best remembered for his work in silent films. ... Gloria Swanson (March 27, 1899 - April 4, 1983), was an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-winning American Hollywood actress. ... Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr. ... Allan Dwan (April 3, 1885 – December 21, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer and screenwriter. ... Screenwriters, scenarists or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ... Louella Parsons (August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) was an American gossip columnist. ... A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine, that prints gossip stories, spreading news of a personal, private nature, and/or rumors and lies, usually about show business, the motion picture and television industries, celebrities, movie stars, superstars, people...

In 1894, while box office manager of the Phoenix Opera House in Waukegan, Illinois, George K. Spoor teamed with inventor Edward Hill Amet (1860-1948) to build and exhibit The Magniscope, the first practical 35mm movie projector ever designed and used in a large audience display. Spoor and Amet made films and distributed them with this device before the 1895 device by the Lumiere Brothers of France. Thomas Edison's more famous Kinetoscope was exhibited in 1891, but was only able to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole. Waukegan is a city in Lake County, Illinois, of which it is the county seat. ... 35 mm Kinoton movie projector in operation. ... Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph and a long lasting light bulb. ... Interior view of Kinetoscope with peephole viewer at top of cabinet. ...

Spoor and Amet are credited for having filmed: the world's first newsreel, a film of the first Inauguration of President William McKinley in 1897; the first use of film miniatures (The Battle of Santiago Bay) in which tin replicas and cigar smoke created the illusion of live war footage; the first to experience local censorship (due to the graphic images of China's Boxer Rebellion); and even the first "fake newsreel" in which Spoor used neighbors to act out battles such as the Battle of San Juan Hill in a local park. An inauguration is a ceremony of formal investiture whereby an individual assumes an office or position of authority or power. ... William McKinley Jr. ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... Combatants United States Republic of Cuba Spain Commanders William Rufus Shafter Joseph Wheeler Arsenio Linares Strength 15,000 regulars 4,000 guerrilleros 12 field guns 4 Gatling guns 800 regulars 5 field guns Casualties 124 dead 817 wounded 58 dead 170 wounded 39 captured The Battle of San Juan Hill...

In 1926, Spoor and inventor P. John Berggren invented Natural Vision, an early 65mm widescreen process which was only used to film four movies, including Danger Lights (RKO, 1930). The trademark Natural Vision was later used for an unrelated system of making 3-D films in 1953. Danger Lights is a 1930 movie starring Louis Wolheim, Robert Armstrong, and Jean Arthur. ... RKO could stand for: RKO Pictures The R.K.O. - finishing manoever (and initials) of WWE professional wrestler Randy Orton. ... See also: 1929 in film 1930 1931 in film 1930s in film 1920s in film years in film film // Events Top grossing films The Indians Are Coming Madam Satan Der Blaue Engel Academy Awards Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front - Universal Studios Best Actress: Norma Shearer - The Divorcee... In film, the term 3-D (or 3D) is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images of the third dimension, the illusion of depth as seen by the viewer. ...

Spoor received an Oscar, specifically an Academy Honorary Award in 1948, for his contribution to developing motion pictures as entertainment. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Honorary Award is given irregularly by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...

George K. Spoor is the great grandfather to the well renowned celebrity Spoorski The Great (Gregory Alexander Paul Spoor)

External links

• Sounds of Silents, a play about Essanay Studios
• George K. Spoor at IMDB