Leon Douglass

About

Revolutionized the art of picture and sound recordings. He had patents on the phonograph and nearly 50 other important inventions.

Before Fame

He worked as a telegraph messenger at age 11 and was a telephone exchange manager by age 16.

Trivia

He patented a process for filming what he called natural color, a precursor to what would become Technicolor.

Family Life

He had two daughters who died in 1935, one from a car accident and the other from childbirth.

Associated With

He produced the film Cupid Angling in 1918, which starred Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and was thought to be the first American feature-length color film.