Earl H. Hulsey

Who is Earl H. Hulsey?

Earl Henry Hulsey was a Dallas business man and former owner and operator of the Circle Theatre, where Vitaphone made its debut in Texas. Hulsey began construction on a building currently known as the Waco Hippodrome Theatre in 1913. Opened on February 7, 1914, the theater was a select road show house and spent much of its life as "Hulsey's Hipp," operated by Hulsey to offer major vaudeville attractions and movies.

Hulsey was a native of Georgia's DeKalb County and owned several silent motion picture theatres, which he sold when he moved to Dallas to head a brokerage office. He helped form First National Pictures in 1917, and was also a member of the New York Stock Exchange.