The son of an immigrant tailor, he quit school at an early stage and began to work at a variety of jobs -- as a chorus boy in a play, a shipping clerk for a music publishing house, a fur salesman, and a pool hustler. In 1912 he teamed up with Harry Ruby (later a famous Broadway composer) in a short-lived vaudeville act. Cohn then worked briefly as a trolley conductor and began a mildly successful career as a song plugger. In 1918 he became personal secretary to film pioneer and founder of Universal, Carl Laemmle, for ten years the employer of Harry's brother, Jack Cohn (b. Oct. 27, 1889, NYC d. 1956). In 1920 the Cohn brothers and a fellow Laemmle employee, Joe Brandt, struck out on their own, forming the C.B.C. Film Sales Company. Jack Cohn and Brandt remained in New York to run the company's administration and sales, while Harry was dispatched to Hollywood to begin production. After starting from scratch on the film capital's Poverty Row, Harry steadily advanced the fortunes of the company, which in 1924 became Columbia Pictures. Gambling on new ideas and luring talent from other studios, Cohn was able to elevate Columbia to the status of a major Hollywood studio in the 30s and into a virtual gold mine in the 40s. Cohn was notorious for his ruthlessness and vulgarity. He ruled his studio like a despot, spying on employees through informers and a hidden-microphone system, hiring and firing at will, courting the strong and humiliating the weak. He was known as "Harry the Horror" until Ben Hecht gave him the nickname that stuck, "White Fang." A vigorous, outspoken man who used profanity freely, Cohn seemed to savor his reputation as the toughest of Hollywood's moguls and made sure that his occasional acts of charity and benevolence were kept secret. Cohn was personally responsible for the development of many stars, notably Rita Hayworth, but clashed frequently with his stars, directors, and writers, and the turnover at Columbia was the greatest of any Hollywood studio. Throughout his career as production head in Hollywood he was engaged in a power struggle with his brother Jack, who still ran the company's headquarters in New York. Their battles were so intense that for many months they spoke to each other only through intermediaries. In 1932, Harry successfully avoided Jack's attempt to oust him and from then on solidified his position as the real boss of Columbia. Harry Cohn was probably the most feared and hated man in Hollywood, but even his enemies acknowledged his uncanny sense of what made a picture successful and also his ability to run a studio effectively and profitably. Cohn is the subject of an intriguing biography by Bob Thomas, King Cohn (1967).  Best Picture 1934: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT - Producer at Columbia  Nominated for Best Picture 1934: ONE NIGHT OF LOVE - Producer at Columbia 2 nominations, 1 Award