Polish Founders of Warner Bros. are Honored in Avenue of Stars in Łódź

By: Onet.pl | 11 September 2023

One hundred years ago, four brothers who came from Poland founded the Warner Bros production studio. Now they have all been honored with their star in Lodz’s Avenue of Stars. This is one of more than 90 plaques that have been embedded in Lodz’s sidewalk.

The star of the Warner brothers, who come from the Polish town of Krasnosielc, was unveiled Monday in the Lodz Avenue of Stars, on Piotrkowska Street at number 66. The event was attended by the Mayor of Lodz, Hanna Zdanowska, and Katarzyna Kieli, President and Managing Director of Warner Bros Discovery Poland, as well as the designer of the stars in the Lodz avenue, Andrzej Pągowski.

Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack founded the iconic Warner Bros. studio more than 100 years ago, and their label revolutionized cinema, giving birth to the sound film era with “The Jazz Band Singer” (1927).

As recalled by Malgorzata Szczepaniak of EC1 Lodz City of Culture, 2023 is full of anniversaries related to the Warner brothers. 135 years ago, their father Benjamin Wonsal (other sources give the names Wrona, Woron or Wonskolaser), a Jewish shoemaker from the Mazovian town of Krasnosielc, came to the US, fleeing persecution and poverty from the Russian partition. A year later he brought his family, including the three future founders of Warner Bros; Jack was already born in Canada.

It all started with “Robbery on the Express.”

On the other hand, 120 years ago Albert and Sam bought a kinetoscope and a copy of the western “Robbery on the Express.” They screened it in a tent during festivals, which became the nucleus of a chain of movie theaters they quickly established. It was in film production, however, that they saw their opportunity. 105 years ago they set up Warner Features, and five years later turned it into Warner Bros., one of the first of its kind in the world.

From the studio came such cult productions as “Casablanca,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Enter the Dragon,” “Superman,” “The Matrix,” the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, but also Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

It was the studio that produced “Don Juan” (1926), which is considered the first sound film in history (synchronized music track and sound effects). The revolution was completed with “The Jazz Band Singer” (1927), which is the first film to be fully soundtracked (music track, sound effects, dialogue). Warner Bros. won an Oscar for it at the first Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards ceremony.

Harry, Sam and Jack have their stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, while the star of all four who changed the face of world cinema was unveiled in Lodz, including Albert.

So far, more than 90 stars have been unveiled, with which meritorious directors, actors and actresses, film producers, film music creators, among others, have been honored.