Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 – January 13, 1958) was an American pioneer motion picture producer[1] who was a key founder of what was to become Paramount Pictures, and father of screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky Jr. Born in to a Jewish family[2] in San Francisco, California, Lasky worked at a variety of jobs but began his entertainment career as a vaudeville performer, playing the cornet in a duo act with his sister Blanche.

[3] With limited funds, they rented a barn near Los Angeles where they made Hollywood's first feature film, DeMille's The Squaw Man, which was a success.

Films produced by Lasky include What Every Woman Knows (1921), The Covered Wagon (1923), A Kiss for Cinderella (1925), Beau Geste (1926), Wings (1927).

Financial problems arose within the industry as a result of the Great Depression and Lasky resigned in 1932 after personally losing $12 million.

At Warners he produced Sergeant York (1941), The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944) and Rhapsody in Blue (1945).