Trivia

Sam's death resulted in the surviving three Warner brothers missing the premiere of Le chanteur de jazz (1927) (they were on a train headed to Los Angeles for the funeral), which would have been the greatest night of their professional lives.

Co-founder of Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., along with older brother Harry M. Warner (president of the company) and younger brothers Albert Warner (treasurer) and Jack L. Warner (executive in charge of production). Sam was the studio's chief executive officer until his death.

Father: Benjamin Warner (née Wonsal); Mother: Pearl Leah Eichelbaum.

Uncle of Jack Warner Jr.

Of all the Warners, Sam was the studio's driving force behind technological innovation, literally dragging his reluctant brothers into the future of film. Somewhat ironically, however, he never envisioned the Vitaphone process being used for dialog. By all accounts he saw it as a cost-saving device to theaters that would enable them to eliminate live orchestras (or, in rural theaters, a piano player) that typically accompanied silent movies. He saw the Vitaphone as a means to distinguish Warners from the more prominent studios in Hollywood. Al Jolson's brief synchronized talking bits in Le chanteur de jazz (1927) as much as his singing proved sensational to audiences, Sadly, Sam would not live to see the full promise of talkies realized, and his fragile Vitaphone disc process would be quickly surpassed by the vastly superior Fox Movietone sound-on-film system.

Co-founded (with brother Harry M. Warner) distribution company Warners Features Inc. in 1910, which was reorganized as United Film Service in 1915.