Thomas Lincoln Tally

Thomas Lincoln Tally
Thomas L. Tally (1915)
Born	1861 Texas[1]
Died	November 24, 1945 (aged 83–84) United States
Occupation	Film producer, businessman
Spouse(s)	Mary A.[1][2]
Children	Seymour Tally (1889-1976) [3]

Thomas Lincoln Tally (1861 – November 24, 1945) on or near April 16, 1902, opened the Electric Theatre in Los Angeles, the first movie theatre in that city and the first movie theater in California known to have been built from the ground up inside a larger building on the ground floor. (Photographs exist but rights are not available).

With James Dixon Williams he founded First National Pictures.^[4][5] He was the first to show a color movie in Los Angeles in 1912, and he was the first to sign Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford to a movie contract.^[1]

Note on Wanamaker quote

The term Movie Palace is improperly applied in the quote. It is, apparently, used metaphorically and not keeping with a proper definition.^[6]

Lawsuits

• Tally v. Ganahl, 151 California Supreme Court 418 (1907)

References

1. "Thomas L. Tally, Film Pioneer, Dies. Producer First Signed Mary Pickford, Chaplin. A Founder of First National Pictures.". New York Times. November 25, 1945.
2. 1910 US Census
3. California Death Index; Seymour Tally; 27 May 1976; Los Angeles; 29 Aug 1889; Texas
4. "Celebrating July 2 -- What If...; 10 Days That Changed History". New York Times. July 2, 2006. Then, in spring 1902, Thomas L. Tally opened his Electric Theater in Los Angeles, a radical new venture devoted to movies and other high-tech devices of the era, like audio recordings. "Tally was the first person to offer a modern multimedia entertainment experience to the American public," says the film historian Marc Wanamaker. Before long, his successful movie palace produced imitators nationally, which would become known as nickelodeons. America's love affair with the moving image -- from the silver screen to YouTube -- would endure after all.
5. "First Film House is Victim of Time. Used Clothing Store Stands on Its Unmarked Site.". New York Times. April 17, 1962. Los Angeles, April 17, 1962 One of the historic sites of the movie industry has been obliterated by time, squalor and indifference.
6. Note: The term "Movie Palace is improperly applied here. A true "movie palace" held thousands of patrons. The Mark-Strand Theatre (New York City, 1914) is generally recognized as the world's first true purpose-built movie palace)