Plitt Southern Theater Employee Fund Gifts Over $16,000 to the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation

History of the fund

Since the early 1940s, the Plitt Southern Theaters Employee Fund has generously given over $25 million to theater families for medical expenses and improvements to quality of life. The fund helped employees of Interstate Theatres, Texas Consolidate Theaters (formerly Paramount Publix Theaters), ABC Interstate Theaters, and Plitt Southern Theatres, Inc. The Fund began by charging a service fee on discounted or free movie passes.

Throughout the years, the Employee Fund continued to operate through the Karl Hobiltzelle Foundation and the Henry G. Plitt Foundation. Karl Hobiltzelle was a pioneer in vaudeville beginning in 1905 and continued his career in motion picture entertainment until his death in 1967. Henry G. Plitt was a World War II hero who after his discharge developed Plitt Theatres into a chain of 600 movie screens nationwide before selling most of them in 1985.

After helping hundreds of theater employees, the board of directors recently decided the work of the Employee Fund was complete and voted to give over $16,000 to the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation. The Fund contributed to WRMPPF in the past due in large part to Howard Skelton, a longtime member of both organizations. Howard, who also served in WWII, began his 52-year career as an usher and became theater manager for Interstate-Plitt Theaters.

Thank you Plitt Southern Theaters Fund for your work in assisting fellow industry members in need. The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation hopes to continue this mission for many years to come.