Warner was unlike most theatrical entrepreneurs, in that he was neither an actor nor a musician, but he had a passionate interest in classical music and his early working life was spent as a fine art salesman.
[11] Warner's first partnership in theatrical agency was with William Leonard Hunt, known popularly as tightrope walker "The Great Farini", who crossed Niagara Falls with a washing machine on his back.
Farini was interested in human "curiousities" such as African pygmies, giants and dwarfs and hirsute women, who were exhibited to the public under the guise of education.
After ten years Farini retired and in 1899 Warner renamed his business the Anglo-American Agency, with his brother Emanuel began to scour Europe and the US for musicians, comedians and actors to change the tone of music hall and variety entertainment.
[12] [13] His extended family produced celebrity entertainers well into the 20th Century, who negotiated the journey from variety to the big screen such as Lauri de Frece, who married Fay Compton.
[15] Warner stated he had been in England for 49 years, he was a Czech born in Bohemia with no interests in Germany, and as he was an invalid he would relinquish directorship of the company.