Warner Bros

US film-production company, founded in 1923 by Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. It became one of the major Hollywood studios after releasing the first talking film, The Jazz Singer (1927). During the 1930s and 1950s, company stars included Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, and Bette Davis. Successful films have included Casablanca (1942), My Fair Lady (1964), Superman (1978), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), and The Fugitive (1993). In 1989 the company merged with Time-Life Inc, to become Time Warner (later AOL Time Warner), the largest media corporation in the world.

Warner Bros Records (now WEA) was formed in the late 1950s, releasing mostly middle-of-the-road pop music; an early signing was the Everly Brothers. It became one of the six major record companies in the 1970s, with artists like Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, and Prince. Company subsidiaries include Sire, which in 1983 signed Madonna.