John Eberson (b. 1875 – d. 1964)

 

John Eberson was a Romanian born American architect best known for his movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre fashion.  Born in Cernauti, Bukovina, Romania, Eberson arrived in the United States in the early 1900s and at first settled in St. Louis. There, while working for a construction company he designed his first theater, the Jewel, in Hamilton, Ohio. A year later he moved to Chicago, and in 1926 he made his final move, to New York City. 

Eberson was famous for his atmospheric theaters, many in the revival styles, including Italian Renaissance, Moorish Revival and others. Many of his later designs, some executed with his son Drew, were in the Art Deco style. In all Eberson designed close to 100 movie theaters, located in dozens of states in the United States, including: The Paramount Theatre (Austin, Texas), The Majestic Theater (Dallas), the Orpheum, (Wichita, Kansas), The Louisville Palace, (Louisville, Kentucky), Loew's Paradise Theater, (The Bronx, New York), (one of the 5 Loew's Wonder Theaters, which were Loew's flagship theaters in the New York City area), and the Bethesda Theater, (Bethesda, Maryland) listed on the National Register of Historic Places, among others.

 

 

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