Herbert Yates

Short Biography

Herbert John Yates (August 24, 1880 - February 3, 1966) was the founder and president of Republic Pictures, famous for being the home of John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. Under Yates' leadership between 1935 and 1959, Republic made 956 feature films and 849 serial chapters, many of which are classics enjoyed today on television and DVD by a whole new generation of appreciative fans.Yates was born in Brooklyn in 1880. His was a Horatio Alger story. He started his business career at an early age, building a newspaper sales business on the streets of Brooklyn. Later, he ascended rapidly through the ranks of the American Tobacco Company, retiring from that business with a sizable fortune before the age of 30. Focusing on the movie and recording business, he built a small empire, acquiring record companies and film laboratories. In the twenties, he provided financing for Mack Sennett and Fatty Arbuckle.In October 1929, his Consolidated Film Industries took control of ARC (American Record Corporation, a company created as a result of a merger between a number of dime store labels). In the following years, the company was very involved in a depressed market, buying failing labels at bargain prices to exploit their catalogue. (In December 1931 Warner Bros. leased Brunswick Records, Vocalion Records and associated companies to ARC.) In 1932, ARC was king of the 3 records for a dollar market, selling 6 million units, twice as much as RCA Victor. In an effort to get back on top, RCA created its Bluebird label. ARC bought out the Columbia Records catalogue in 1934. In the 1930s ARC produced Brunswick at 75c and Oriole, Romeo, Melotone, Vocalion, Banner and Perfect at 35c.