Herbert John Yates (August 24, 1880 – February 3, 1966), a Hollywood mini-mogul, was the founder and President of Republic Pictures. With his contract, he had launched the film careers of such Western stars as Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and John Wayne. He started his business career at an early age, building a newspaper sales business on the streets of Brooklyn. Later, he ascended from office boy to eastern regional sales manager of the American Tobacco Company,
Yates and Vera's relatives were pushed out of Republic and the film business in 1959, the same year Republic's board decided to switch emphasis from production to distribution, selling their controlling interest to Victor M. Carter for nearly $6 million. Yates became chairman of the board.
Death and legacy
The Republic lot survives today as CBS Studio Center. Notable among Yates' contributions to the lot are the Mabel Normand sound stage, built during World War II and later home to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and an award-winning music scoring auditorium that has hosted such famous names as Aaron Copland and Artur Rubinstein.