irving grant thalberg (1899–1936) was an american film producer. he took a job as a secretary in the new york office of universal pictures, then became personal secretary to the studio's founder, carl laemmle, and in 1919 was sent to los angeles as studio manager, where he oversaw more than a hundred films, among them the hunchback of notre dame (1923).
in 1922 he joined louis b. mayer's production company as vice president in charge of production; after mayer's firm merged into metro-goldwyn-mayer, thalberg, then twenty-four, was made part-owner and head of production. over roughly twelve years at mgm he supervised more than four hundred films, and the studio became the most successful in hollywood.
as production head he built up mgm's story department and worked by story conferences with writers, sneak previews with audience questionnaires, and reshoots of scenes that did not play. among the pictures he supervised were ben-hur (1925), the big parade (1925), the big house (1930), anna christie (1930), grand hotel (1932), china seas (1935), a night at the opera (1935), mutiny on the bounty (1935), camille (1936), romeo and juliet (1936) and san francisco (1936). grand hotel and mutiny on the bounty each won the academy award for best picture.
directors he worked with included king vidor (the big parade), clarence brown (anna christie), tod browning (mark of the vampire), edmund goulding (grand hotel) and george cukor (camille, romeo and juliet). among his writers were frances marion, who scripted the big house, and anita loos, who wrote red-headed woman (1932).
in late 1932 mgm brought in david o. selznick and walter wanger to share production duties; from 1933 thalberg continued as one of the studio's unit producers, with first choice of projects and access to its stars. he died in september 1936 while the good earth was still in production; the film was released in 1937. the academy of motion picture arts and sciences created the irving g. thalberg memorial award in 1937, given to producers whose work reflects consistently high quality.
related profiles; The Golden Age of Hollywood, Movie Studios, Ben Hecht
sources; wikipedia: irving thalberg, wikipedia: grand hotel, wikipedia: mutiny on the bounty, wikipedia: the good earth, oscars.org: irving g. thalberg memorial award
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