Irving Thalberg

Biography

Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer who worked through the early sound era. Known as "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his talent for choosing scripts, casting actors, assembling crews and making films pay, he is remembered for helping establish the producer as the person ultimately responsible for a picture, at a time when that role usually belonged to the director.

Born in Brooklyn to German Jewish immigrants, Thalberg was diagnosed in infancy with a congenital heart condition, and doctors doubted he would reach thirty. As a teenager he suffered chest pains and fatigue that interrupted his schooling. He worked as a shop clerk and studied typing at night. After a spell in the New York office of Universal Pictures, he became personal secretary to the studio's founder, Carl Laemmle, who sent him to Los Angeles in 1919 to run the studio's west coast operation. Still in his early twenties, he oversaw several productions at once.

In 1922 he built his reputation for control when he clashed with Erich von Stroheim over the length and cost of Foolish Wives, eventually taking the picture out of the director's hands and cutting its running time from five and a half hours to three. He later dismissed von Stroheim during the making of Merry-Go-Round. At twenty-five he was named head of production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, formed by a merger of several companies. There he backed films such as Ben-Hur and The Big Parade, directed by King Vidor, and worked in a deliberate way: story conferences with writers, sneak previews to gauge audiences, and reshoots to refine scenes. He shaped casting and editing across much of the studio's output in the 1920s and 1930s, usually without taking a credit.

In 1927 he married the actress Norma Shearer, and the couple had two children. In 1932 a heart attack forced him away from production. While he recovered, other producers took over his duties, and when he returned he no longer held such a dominant position, though he remained involved in films such as Grand Hotel, A Night at the Opera and Romeo and Juliet. He died in 1936 at the age of 37. His legacy is twofold: since 1937 the Academy has awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producers whose work consistently reaches a high standard, and his career is still cited as a model of the producer who guides a film at every stage.

Key films

• Ben-Hur (1925): one of the large-scale productions that built MGM's prestige under his supervision.
• The Big Parade (1925): directed by King Vidor, it was among the studio's biggest successes during his tenure.
• The Broadway Melody (1929): one of MGM's early sound musicals and one of the films most associated with his period.
• Grand Hotel (1932): an ensemble picture that shows his fondness for assembling star casts.
• A Night at the Opera (1935): a Marx Brothers comedy from one of his most successful years in production.
• Romeo and Juliet (1936): a Shakespeare adaptation, one of his last projects before his death.