“I may be known as a crude, loudmouth son-of-a-bitch, but I built Columbia. I started it with spit and wire and these fists. I stole, cheated, and beat people's brains out. Columbia is not just my love; it’s my baby, my life. I’d die without Columbia.”
Hated by many, loved by few, Cohn was the last of the One Man Studio heads running Columbia for 38 years, who amazingly always made a profit and made an impressive list of Oscar winning pictures not matched by any other Poverty Row studio. Some of it came at the expense of talent, such as the Three Stooges who made pennies to Cohn's millions on the films, especially during the revival of the 1950s on television.,
This custom made Ike military coat was made for him in June 1945 for various V-E day celebrations, including a tour of the UK with all the other studio heads. I found no record of Cohn holding any honorary military office or placement, although he did make Kate Smith short films for the USO during the war.
The quote "Give the people what they want and they will come" is credited to Red Skelton, commenting on the 2,000 plus people who showed up at Columbia Studio for Cohn's funeral in 1958. Shown are some of the celebrity attendees including Frank Capra, Jimmy Stewart, Glenn Ford, Kim Novak, George Raft. Mervyn Leroy and Dick Powell.
