David O. Selznick: Difference between revisions
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David had four siblings, including his brother Myron, also a film producer and later a talent agent. David Selznick added the "O" to distinguish himself from an uncle with the same name, and because he thought it had flair. The "O" stands for nothing, and he never had his name legally changed to incorporate it. | David had four siblings, including his brother Myron, also a film producer and later a talent agent. David Selznick added the "O" to distinguish himself from an uncle with the same name, and because he thought it had flair. The "O" stands for nothing, and he never had his name legally changed to incorporate it. | ||
He studied at Columbia University in New York City and started training as an apprentice for his father until the elder's bankruptcy in 1923. In 1926, Selznick moved to Hollywood, and with the help of his father's connections, he gained a job as an assistant story editor at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He left MGM for Paramount Pictures in 1928, where he worked until 1931. While at [[Paramount]] he married Irene Gladys Mayer, daughter of MGM mogul | He studied at Columbia University in New York City and started training as an apprentice for his father until the elder's bankruptcy in 1923. In 1926, Selznick moved to Hollywood, and with the help of his father's connections, he gained a job as an assistant story editor at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He left MGM for Paramount Pictures in 1928, where he worked until 1931. While at [[Paramount]] he married Irene Gladys Mayer, daughter of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer. | ||
== Stint at RKO == | == Stint at RKO == | ||
Revision as of 22:01, 30 November 2022
| David O. Selznick | ||
 Selznick, c. 1934 | ||
| Background information | ||
| Born as: | David Selznick | |
| Born | May 10, 1902 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| Died | Jun 22, 1965 - age 62 Los Angeles, California, U.S. Heart attack | |
| Spouse(s): | Irene Mayer Selznick (1930 - 1949) divorced Jennifer Jones (1949 - ) | |
| Parents: | Lewis J. Selznick Florence Sachs | |
| Children: | 3 | |
| Relatives: | Myron Selznick (brother) | |
| Occupation: | Film producer, screenwriter, film studio executive | |
| Years active | 1923–1957 | |
David O. Selznick (✦May 10, 1902 – †June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced Gone with the Wind (1939) and Rebecca (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture.
Early life
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was the son of Florence Anna (née Sachs) and Lewis J. Selznick, a silent movie producer and distributor of Jewish origin. His father was born in Lithuania in 1870.
David had four siblings, including his brother Myron, also a film producer and later a talent agent. David Selznick added the "O" to distinguish himself from an uncle with the same name, and because he thought it had flair. The "O" stands for nothing, and he never had his name legally changed to incorporate it.
He studied at Columbia University in New York City and started training as an apprentice for his father until the elder's bankruptcy in 1923. In 1926, Selznick moved to Hollywood, and with the help of his father's connections, he gained a job as an assistant story editor at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He left MGM for Paramount Pictures in 1928, where he worked until 1931. While at Paramount he married Irene Gladys Mayer, daughter of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer.
Stint at RKO
David Sarnoff, head of RKO, hired Selznick as Head of Production in October 1931. In addition to implementing rigorous cost-control measures, Selznick championed the unit production system, which gave the producers of individual movies much greater independence than they had under the prevailing central producer system. "Under the factory system of production you rob the director of his individualism", said Selznick, "and this being a creative industry that is harmful to the quality of the product made." Instituting unit production, he predicted, would also result in cost savings of 30–40 percent.
To make films under the new system, Selznick recruited prize behind-the-camera personnel, such as director George Cukor and producer/director Merian C. Cooper, and gave producer Pandro S. Berman, aged twenty-six, increasingly important projects. Selznick discovered and signed a young actress who was quickly counted as one of the studio's big stars, Katharine Hepburn. John Barrymore was also enlisted for a few memorable performances.
Selznick spent a mere fifteen months as RKO production chief, resigning over a dispute with new corporate president Merlin Aylesworth concerning creative control. One of his last acts at RKO was to approve a screen test for a thirty-three-year-old, balding Broadway song-and-dance man named Fred Astaire. In a memo, Selznick wrote, "I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is ... tremendous".
Selznick's tenure was widely considered masterful: In 1931, before he arrived, the studio had produced forty-two features for $16 million in total budgets. In 1932, under Selznick, forty-one features were made for $10.2 million, with clear improvement in quality and popularity. He backed several major successes, including A Bill of Divorcement (1932), with Cukor directing Hepburn's debut, and the monumental King Kong (1933)—largely Merian Cooper's brainchild, brought to life by the astonishing special effects work of Willis O'Brien.
Return to MGM
In 1933 he returned to MGM where his father-in-law, Louis B. Mayer, was studio CEO. Mayer established a second prestige production unit for Selznick, parallel to that of Irving Thalberg, who was in poor health. Selznick's unit output included the all-star cast movie Dinner at Eight (1933), David Copperfield (1935), Anna Karenina (1935), and A Tale of Two Cities (1935).
Greta Garbo's contract with MGM supposedly provided that only Selznick or Thalberg could produce her pictures for the studio. When Selznick later announced his departure from MGM, Garbo asked him to stay, offering to allow him the exclusive right to produce her films. Selznick declined the offer.
Selznick International Pictures
- Wikipedia article: Selznick International Pictures
Selznick longed to be an independent producer with his own studio. In 1935 he realized that goal by leasing RKO's Culver City studios and back lot, forming 'Selznick International Pictures', and distributing his films through United Artists. His successes continued with classics such as The Garden of Allah (1936), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), A Star Is Born (1937), Nothing Sacred (1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), The Young in Heart (1938), Made for Each Other (1939), Intermezzo (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939), which remains the highest-grossing film of all time (adjusted for inflation). Gone with the Wind won eight Oscars and two special awards. Selznick also won the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award that same year.
The following year he produced his second Best Picture Oscar winner, Rebecca (1940), the first Hollywood production of British director Alfred Hitchcock. Selznick had brought Hitchcock over from England, launching the director's American career. Rebecca was Hitchcock's only film to win Best Picture.
Later productions
After Rebecca, Selznick closed Selznick International Pictures and took some time off. His business activities included the loan of his contracted artists to other studios, including Alfred Hitchcock, Ingrid Bergman,
Death
Crypt of David O. Selznick, in the Great Mausoleum, Forest Lawn Glendale Selznick died on June 22, 1965 at age 63 following several heart attacks, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. There he joined his older brother Myron Selznick (who had died in 1944) in the family crypt.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, David O. Selznick has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd in front of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt hotel.
Filmography
- Wikipedia article: David O. Selznick Filmography
External links
- Wikipedia article: David O. Selznick
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