Paul J. Rainey

Paul James Rainey (September 18, 1877 – September 18, 1923) was an American businessman, philanthropist, filmmaker, hunter, and photographer. He made films about his hunts in Africa. Gates at the Bronx Zoological park were commissioned in his memory and a preserve established in Louisiana.

Early life

Paul James Rainey was born September 18, 1877, in Cleveland, Ohio, the fifth of Eleanor Beatty (née Mitchell) and William Joab Rainey's five children. His sister was Grace Rainey Rogers.

Life Scion of a wealthy family whose fortune came from coal and coke production, Rainey earned a reputation as a playboy. He invested in numerous personal projects, including his Tippah Lodge in Mississippi, a hotel, prize horses, and private railroad cars.

Although he owned other residences, he favored Tippah Lodge, his sprawling estate in rural Mississippi.

Rainey was active with the American Geographical Society, American Museum of Natural History, the New York Zoological Society, and the Smithsonian Institution, among other organizations.

Rejected by the military for health reasons, Rainey purchased an ambulance and drove it on the Western Front during World War I.

African expedition films Paul J. Rainey's African Hunt

After the war, Rainey hunted big game in Africa. He and his team filmed some of the earliest film footage of African animals in the wild. In 1912, they released the six-reel documentary film Paul J. Rainey's African Hunt.

Rainey's silent film grossed over a half-million dollars , an extraordinary sum for an early motion picture. It was one of the most successful non-fiction films of the decade. The success of Rainey's films led to a boom in expedition and nature films. These were silent films, so many of these films were at first presented by a lecturer in a lyceum-like context.

Heart of the Jungle Rainey's five-reel African expedition film Heart of the Jungle was playing in US theaters during 1919. Edward Bernays's pioneering public relations firm publicized it.

Death and burial He died on his forty-sixth birthday in 1923 of a cerebral hemorrhage. The death occurred while Rainey was en route from England to South Africa, where he had planned to hunt. He was buried at sea.

Legacy After his death, Rainey's family set aside 26,000 acres (110 km2) of his marshland as a wildfowl refuge in coastal south Louisiana. The refuge, known as the Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary, is owned by the National Audubon Society.