When movies first started and well into the 1950's The Movie Studios would hire actors and place them under contract. This was long before TV's were in every home. Everyone went to the movies back then, so the demand for new movies was unlimited. So the studios wanted to control as much of the stream as possible. They owned the movie houses as well as the stars. It was not uncommon for an actor to be on one soundstage filming and then go to another and film another movie! Most of the studios that you see today are what's left of the "studio system" If they liked how you looked then they would contract you and use you for bit parts at first and if you were good you could move on and be a major star
What ever you became the studio would benifit! Stars like Judy Garland, Henry Fonda, Cary Grant were products of the system. Grant and Garland were made to change their names by the system so that they would be marketable.
TV changed all of that because when it entered the picture, it opened another venue for talent, and started to pull from the system, in order to keep good talent, the studios had to now compete for talent and could not sign someone for a long term contract because of the opportunities in TV while not as much money as the movies could be steady income if you had a hit
What ever you became the studio would benifit! Stars like Judy Garland, Henry Fonda, Cary Grant were products of the system. Grant and Garland were made to change their names by the system so that they would be marketable.
TV changed all of that because when it entered the picture, it opened another venue for talent, and started to pull from the system, in order to keep good talent, the studios had to now compete for talent and could not sign someone for a long term contract because of the opportunities in TV while not as much money as the movies could be steady income if you had a hit