Charles R. Rogers

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Charles R. Rogers (July 15, 1892 – March 29, 1957), also known as Chas. R. Rogers, was an American film producer whose career spanned both the silent and sound film eras. He should not be confused with Charles "Buddy" Rogers, who was an actor and film producer, as well as being married to Mary Pickford. Rogers began his career on the 1924 silent film, A Cafe in Cairo, produced by the short-lived Hunt Stromberg Productions. After Stromberg ceased productions in 1925, Rogers would found his own independent company, Charles R. Rogers Productions. He would also produce for major studios such as RKO Radio Pictures, Universal, and United Artists. The pinnacle of his career would be from 1936 to 1938 when he was chosen as the vice-president in charge of production for Universal Pictures. He died as the result of injuries sustained in a car accident in 1957. In the early 1920s, he was a partner in the Burr-Rogers Producing Corporation, along with C. C. Burr. Rogers was in charge of handling the distribution of the pictures produced by Burr at his Glendale, Queens studio. In early 1924 he left the company to join Hunt Stromberg's independent film production company in 1924, after which the company changed its name to Burr Pictures, Inc. When Stromberg left to join the fledgling MGM Studios in 1925, Rogers would form his own eponymously named independent studio. His first film would be the successful western, Driftin' Thru, starring Harry Carey and released in early 1926. He would produce a series of four westerns starring Carey, which would be released through Pathé Exchange. The success of these films would lead to a deal to produce four independent films per year to be released through First National Pictures, starring Ken Maynard, and written by Marion Jackson.