Founded in January 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith, United Artists was incorporated in April of the same year. Unlike the other major motion picture companies, United Artists (UA) never owned a studio or had actors and directors under contract. It functioned throughout its life solely as a distribution company for independent producers.

The history of the company can be conveniently divided into three periods: (1) from 1919 to 1950, when the company was owned by Mary Pickford (1893- 1979), Charles Chaplin (1889-1977), and their partners and functioned mainly as a boutique distributor of quality films; (2) from 1951 to 1981, when the company was rescued from near bankruptcy by a new management team headed by Arthur Krim (1910-1994) and Robert Benjamin, who transformed UA into a modern business enterprise; and (3) from 1981 to 2004, when the company was acquired by Kirk Kerkorian (b. 1917), who merged it with MGM and sold off and reacquired parts of both companies several times until he finally disposed of the remains to Sony in 2004.

Distribution of Disney's films was handled by United Artists Corporation from 1932-1937. In 1957, United Artists became a public company and in 1967 was acquired by TransAmerica Corporation, which ran it as a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1973, United Artists began distributing MGM productions. In 1981, United Artists was acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and in 1983 the merged company was renamed MGM/UA Entertainment Co. In 1986, Ted Turner acquired MGM/UA but sold off UA to Kirk Kerkorian who sold it to Giancarlo Parretti. In 1992, Credit Lyonnais gained control when Parretti defaulted on loans, and restored the name to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., producing and distributing some films through the United Artists brand.

In 1997 MGM acquired Orion Pictures and the other motion picture interests of Metromedia, which included The Samuel Goldwyn Company and Motion Picture Corporation of America. Orion Classics was merged with MGM's United Artists. Today Orion still operates as an in-name-only subsidiary of MGM. Almost all of Orion's past releases now bear the MGM name, although most retain the Orion logo (MGM Media Center; 2000 IMPA). In 2006, United Artists reorganized under a partnership formed between Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. The studio plans to produce about four films each year. Worldwide marketing and distribution will be handled by partner MGM. UA will be a major supplier of feature films to MGM, with production and development of UA movies being fully financed by MGM and its partners.