David O. Selznick

According to the book "Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer" (2005) by Scott Eyman, Selznick sold his interest in Gone with the Wind (1939) to former Selnick International chairman John Hay Whitney ("Jock") for a mere $200,000. This was undoubtedly the worst deal Selznick ever made, as the classic film has and will continue to generate enormous revenue through theatrical reissues, television broadcasts, and home video release.

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on October 26, 2004.

On May 11, 1976, Selznick's 22-year-old daughter Mary Jennifer (by his second wife Jennifer Jones) killed herself by jumping from the tallest building in Westwood (Los Angeles) while her psychotherapist was away on vacation. It was two days after Mother's Day and one day after what would have been her father's 74th birthday. Jennifer Jones subsequently became a therapist herself.

Ever-alert, for possible casting coups, producer David Selznick thought of casting the great stage actress Maud Adams in the role of Miss Fortune in "The Young in Heart". Miss Adams was brought to Hollywood and made a screen test; unfortunately she had no interest in reactivating her career, and politely declined Selznick's offer of a contract. The role was then given to Minnie Dupree. A portion of the screen test is seen in the documentary "Hollywood: The Selznick Years" (1967).

After this was announced that Selznick intended to adapt Lev Tolstoy's "War and Peace" for the screen, both Mike Todd and Dino De Laurentiis announced they were going to film the novel also. Ultimately, Paramount distributed the De Laurentiis version, War and Peace (1956), directed by King Vidor, and the other two were never made.

The Kirk Douglas role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) is widely thought to be patterned after Selznick.

After World War II, broke out Selznick believed his independent Selznick-International would be at a distinct distribution disadvantage to the major studios, so he sold three projects that were in development complete with stars to 20th Century-Fox: Claudia (1943), Jane Eyre (1943) and The Keys of the Kingdom (1944). His only wartime feature was Since You Went Away (1944). He later sold packages to RKO, including Since You Went Away.

MGM's musical star Judy Garland was responsible for MGM's Arthur Freed buying out David O. Selznick's personal exclusive contract with Gene Kelly, who arrived in town in 1941. Kelly came direct from his hit 1940 original Broadway musical production of "Pal Joey" and planned to return to the Broadway stage after making the one film required by his Selznick International contract. Broadway performer-song and dance man Gene Kelly had not worked under David O. Selznick's independent personal Selznick International film production unit since his arrival in Hollywood from his Broadway musical stage triumph. Gene Kelly's opportunistic film career was virtually stagnant under David O. Selznick. Knowing about "Broadway Kelly" Judy Garland wanted Gene Kelly to be her next film's musical co-star. In 1942, at the request of Garland, MGM's musical division producer Arthur Freed Unit brought in Gene Kelly to play opposite Judy in "For Me And My Gal." The film was a huge success and it jump-started the faltering theatrical career of Gene Kelly. MGM producer Arthur Freed had bought out Kelly's personal contract with David O. Selznick and so began the Hollywood film career of 1940s Broadway's song and dance man - Gene Kelly.

By the late 1940s, Selznick International was making very few movies and became a talent agency by default, deriving needed income by loaning out its contract stars to other studios.

Despite being considerably taller and bulkier than director George Cukor, Selznick bore a striking resemblance to him. He would later collaborate with Cukor on Gone with the Wind (1939), from which Cukor was eventually fired by Selznick. Nevertheless, the two remained friends for the rest of their lives.

In 1936, he finally set up his own production company, Selznick International.

In 1935, Greta Garbo signed a contract with MGM, saying only Irving Thalberg and Selznick could supervise her pictures. After the surprise success of Anna Karenina (1935) with Garbo, Selznick announced that he was leaving MGM to start his own company. Garbo begged him to stay at MGM, saying he could solely produce her pictures. Selznick turned down her offer, saying he had bigger ambitions. It is interesting to note that she only acted in four other films after that: Camille (1936), Conquest (1937), Ninotchka (1939) and Two-Faced Woman (1941), and only two were box-office successes. MGM modified her contract after Thalberg's surprise death in 1936, and Garbo was reportedly furious by this decision.

He was back at MGM in 1933 after marrying Irene Mayer Selznick the daughter of Louis B. Mayer.

Responsible for casting four actresses in roles that made them stars: Katharine Hepburn in A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939), Joan Fontaine in Rebecca (1940), and Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette (1943).

Hated the "baby doll" eyebrow look that was made popular by Max Factor and sported by the majority of Hollywood actresses during the 1930s. He insisted that his contract players Vivien Leigh and Ingrid Bergman sport a more natural look.

He produced his first film, Will He Conquer Dempsey? (1923) when South American heavyweight Luis Firpo arrived in the United States in August 1923 for a title fight with champion Jack Dempsey. Selznick paid Firpo $1000--half of the film's $2000 budget--for one day's work.

David O. Selznick was a son of the silent movie producer Lewis J. Selznick. David studied at Columbia University until his father lost his fortune in the 1920s. David started work as an MGM script reader, shortly followed by becoming an assistant to Harry Rapf. He left MGM to work at Paramount then RKO.

Selznick was famed for his long, detailed and incredibly involved (and, to many of the people who received them, maddening) memos sent to many different people during the production of a film--not just the director or writer but cameramen, editors, and pretty much anyone who had anything to do with the picture. A publicist on one of his films once got a Western Union telegram from Selznick that ended up being more than 30 feet long and finished up with, "I have just received a phone call that pretty much clears up this matter. Therefore you can disregard this wire." These famed memos are the subject of an entire book, "Memo From David Selznick" edited by Rudy Behlmer. According to Behlmer, Selznick dictated his every thought to secretaries from 1916-65 in memos that filled 2,000 file boxes.