William M. Pizor(1890-1959)
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Editor
Low-budget producer William M. Pizor began his career as a film
distributor. He started producing "B" westerns in the 1920s with
old-time cowboys like Al Hoxie and a series of
two-reel comedies featuring child actors that were, frankly, a cheap
imitation of the more famous "Our Gang" comedies. When sound came
around Pizor continued his production of low-grade westerns and shorts
with his companies Capitol Pictures and Imperial Productions.
Pizor had a reputation as among the most penurious of the notoriously tight-fisted Poverty Row producers, and judging by the films he produced, it was deserved. In 1939 he was sued by cowboy star Tim McCoy for breach of contract, and won a $37,000 judgment (a sum that was probably higher than the combined budgets of his previous half-dozen pictures).
Pizor left the business for a short while but returned in the '40s to go to work for low-budget production company Screen Guild. He next went to Lippert Pictures, where he was the head of its foreign distribution operation, before retiring. He died in New York City in 1969.
Pizor had a reputation as among the most penurious of the notoriously tight-fisted Poverty Row producers, and judging by the films he produced, it was deserved. In 1939 he was sued by cowboy star Tim McCoy for breach of contract, and won a $37,000 judgment (a sum that was probably higher than the combined budgets of his previous half-dozen pictures).
Pizor left the business for a short while but returned in the '40s to go to work for low-budget production company Screen Guild. He next went to Lippert Pictures, where he was the head of its foreign distribution operation, before retiring. He died in New York City in 1969.
