MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business. MCA published music, booked acts, ran a record company, represented film, television and radio stars, and eventually produced and sold television programs to the three major television networks. MCA was founded in 1924 by Jules Stein and William R. Goodheart, Jr. as Music Corporation of America, a music booking agency based in Chicago, Illinois. MCA helped pioneer modern practices of touring bands and... name acts. Early on, MCA booked such prominent artists as King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton for clubs and speakeasies run by legendary notorious Chicago mobsters such as Al Capone and others. Lew Wasserman joined MCA in 1936 at the age of 23 and rose through the ranks to MCA for more than four decades, with Sonny Werblin as his right-hand man. Wasserman helped create MCA's radio show Kay Kyser and His Kollege of Musical Knowledge, which debuted on NBC Radio that same year.
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| Founded: | 1924 |
| Founders: | Jules C. Stein |