100th Anniversary Countdown Paramount Theatre Continued!

Karl Hoblitzelle – Creator of the Interstate Theatre Chain – 1915-1975

“In his own way Karl Hoblitzelle has been an empire-builder-and his is a prouder achievement than the empires that have risen and fallen since 1906 for his is built not on the forces that divide men, but on the ideals which unite them.”  –Cecil B. DeMille

Mr. Hoblitzelle either built and/or managed 150 theatres over his lifetime – many palatial – including the famed Majestic Theatres in Dallas and Ft. Worth and the Empire in San Antonio in his early days.  Interstate Theatres operated the beloved Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, built by the Nalle Family. He was a national powerhouse in the Vaudeville and nascent film industry.  Vaudeville prevailed, along with Broadway plays, up until motion pictures started to gain popularity in the late 1920’s.  Little by little, Vaudeville gave way to films as the dominant entertainment choice in the 1930’s and beyond. His theatre chain allowed the Paramount in Austin to garner shows which put it in the class of much larger markets in the U.S.

Deacon Crain, a long time friend of Mr. Hoblitzelle, and curator of the Hoblitzelle Collection at the Humanities Research Center at UT for many years, also served on the Paramount’s board of directors for well over a decade.  He was a member of the UT Drama Department’s “Curtain Club” in its early days.  He helped Bobbie Crenshaw to finance the restoration of the Paramount’s six opera boxes.

The City of Austin, the State of Texas and the Southwest. owe a profound debt of gratitude to Karl Hoblitzelle’s for his brilliant management of these wondrous theatres that have served tens of millions over the last 100 years.

Louis Novy, the overall manager of the Interstate Theatre chain, will be featured in the next post. His grandson and granddaughter live in Austin.