Charles P. Skouras (/ˈskʊərəs/; Greek: Κάρολος Σκούρας; 1889–1954) was an American movie executive and president of Fox West Coast, born in Skourohorion, Greece.
Living frugally on wages as busboys and bartenders in downtown hotels, they pooled their savings of $3500 in 1914 and in partnership with two other Greeks, they constructed a modest nickelodeon at 1420 Market Street on the site of today's Kiel Opera House.
The biggest moment for the Skouras empire came when their dream of building a world-class movie palace in downtown St. Louis was grandly realized in 1926 when the $5.5 million Ambassador Theatre Building opened (this theater re-opened in 1939 as the New Fox Theatre).
[1] In a late 1950s suit, Goldwyn claimed that Twentieth Century-Fox, Fox West Coast Theatres, National Theatres, Charles P. Skouras, and several affiliated circuits including T & D Junior Enterprises had intentionally discriminated against independently produced films (that is, made outside of the studio production systems), and he sought compensation for years of perceived oppression.
He went on to become the head of National Theatres and a man of his word, built the Saint Sophia church in 1952 at a cost of $2 million,[1] in what was then the Greek section of Los Angeles.