Louis Elliman

Louis Elliman (28 February 1903 – 15 November 1965) was an Irish impresario and theatre manager.

Elliman was born in Dublin, one of 12 children of Jewish parents: Maurice Elliman, who had fled Tsarist persecution in Russia, and his wife, Leah. Louis was educated at Synge Street CBS and University College Dublin. Maurice Elliman became involved in cinema by establishing the Theatre De Luxe in Camden Street, Dublin, in 1912. After university, Louis started work at a pharmacy but after a few years gave that up to become a film agent in London. In 1931, he married Ettie Robinson, in Dublin’s Adelaide Road synagogue.

In the early 1930s, Louis Elliman sold a 50% share in the Gaiety to entrepreneur Patrick Wall, a native of County Clare. The pair acquired the Metropole and Savoy cinemas, as well as, over time, more than 30 cinemas across Ireland. Acquired by the Rank Organization in 1946, the cinemas remained under Elliman management. Along with Wall, Elliman acquired the Theatre Royal, Dublin in 1936. he travelled to the USA to promote the studios and to acquire foreign investment. The studios accordingly landed its first major foreign booking with 1959's Shake Hands with the Devil, starring Oscar winner James Cagney. A year later, progress was consolidated when Robert Mitchum appeared in Tay Garnett's "A Terrible Beauty". In 1961, Ardmore Studios hosted the controversial "The Mark", directed by Guy Green, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and earned its star, Stuart Whitman, an Oscar nomination. Other films produced at this time include Don Chaffey's The Webster Boys and "Johnny Nobody" with Cyril Cusack. Hammer Films also utilised the studios as a base for their production, The Viking Queen. The studios went into receivership in 1963 but re-opened later.

Under pressure from rising overheads and the increasing popularity of the cinema and the introduction of television, the Theatre Royal closed its doors on 30 June 1962.

By this time Louis was dogged by bad health and died on November 15, 1965, aged 62.