Cecil McGlohon

H. Cecil McGlohon was the city manager of Wilby-Kincey theaters in the Birmingham area from 1959 until at least 1965. These included the Alabama, Ritz, and Temple Theaters in Birmingham and the Grand Theater in Bessemer.

McGlohon grew up in Savannah, Georgia and attended Armstrong Junior College in that city as well. He came to Birmingham from Augusta, Georgia, replacing Mack Russell after his promotion to district manager for the Wilby-Kincey Theater chain. McGlohon started as an usher in the theater business around 1944 and worked his way up.

One of McGlohon's first initiatives was a 10-week Lady Shoppers Matinee Theater Party series held each Wednesday at the Alabama over the spring of 1959, showing special movies apart from the regular theater schedule. Tickets were not sold at the Alabama, but were available free to shoppers from a wide variety of downtown stores.

During his tenure, a new marquee was erected at the Alabama on 3rd Avenue North in 1960, replacing the 1927 marquee and its screw-in light bulbs with fluorescent fixtures.

In 1964, McGlohon worked to ensure that the Alabama was one of only 1,000 theatres in the U.S. to host a screening of Hamlet with Richard Burton in the title role. The production was filmed at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre in New York, then simulcast through a process called Electronovision Theatrofilm. He also presided over the May 1965 launch of Cinema Unlimited, a monthly foreign film series at the Alabama.

McGlohon was married and had two young daughters when he came to Birmingham.

References

• "Alabama Theater Manager P. M. Russell Jr., promoted" (December 17, 1958). The Birmingham News.
• "McGlohon will manage Wilby-Kincey theaters" (January 27, 1959). The Birmingham News.
• "Shoppers Theater Parties all set" (May 3, 1959). The Birmingham News.
• Weaver, Emmett (May 12, 1960). "Alabama's marquee will shed new light". Birmingham Post-Herald

Preceded by: Mack Russell

Alabama Theatre Manager 1959–1965?

Succeeded by: ?