Robert Laemmle, longtime head of local art-house chain Laemmle Theatres, dies at 89
Robert Laemmle, who took over running the Laemmle Theatres chain from his father, died on Thursday at age 89.
Laemmle’s death was confirmed by his son Greg, the third generation of Laemmles to run the local string of movie houses. Robert Laemmle, known as Bob, died at the Berkley East Healthcare Center in Santa Monica, where he was receiving care after a fall at his home in Santa Monica on Dec. 23. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Born in Paris on Sept. 5, 1935, Laemmle soon came to America with his parents. His father Max Laemmle had been working for his cousin Carl Laemmle, the co-founder of Universal Pictures, in Paris before coming to Los Angeles in 1938.
Max and his brother Kurt began with two theaters in Highland Park and quickly expanded their exhibition goals. Robert had initially worked as a banker but, in 1961, found himself drawn into the family business. He officially retired in 2004, but continued regularly coming into the office until the 2020 pandemic.
“He loved movies,” said Greg Laemmle in an interview on Thursday. “He did enjoy watching movies. He liked the business. He liked being Mr. Laemmle. There’s nothing better than standing in the lobby and having a patron approach you to say how much they appreciate that Laemmle Theatres exists and it shows the kinds of movies that it does.”
The Laemmle chain established itself as a home for art-house movies by the likes of Ingmar Bergman, Francois Truffaut, Pedro Almodóvar and other filmmakers who might not have otherwise had their work screened in Los Angeles, a tradition that continues to today.
“I don’t think we even know how many filmmakers have, at some level, benefited,” noted Greg Laemmle of the support their theaters have given to the world of international and independent cinema over the years.
“It’s something that my grandfather started and we just sort of picked up and ran with it from there,” said Greg Laemmle, “understanding that as much as it was a business and a family business, it was also there to support the community.”
Robert Laemmle is survived by his third wife, Michelle Laemmle, along with his first wife, Raquel Shantal. Laemmle’s second wife, Sunny, predeceased him in 1991. He is survived by children Greg Laemmle, Jessica Laemmle, Yvonne Ascher, Michelle Ascher, David Ascher, Carri Bisbee, Mitchell Needelman, Maitland Finley and Robert Finley, as well as 13 grandchildren.
