Samuel Goldwyn
- Known for
- Production
- Born
- August 17, 1879
- Died
- January 31, 1974 (aged 94)
- Birthplace
- Warsaw, Poland
Biography
Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmul Gelbfisz), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish American film producer. He was most well known for being the founding contributor and executive of several motion picture studios in Hollywood. In 1916, Goldwyn partnered with Broadway producers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn, using a combination of both names to call their movie-making enterprise Goldwyn Pictures. Seeing an opportunity, Samuel Gelbfisz then had his name legally changed to Samuel Goldwyn, which he used for the rest of his life. Goldwyn Pictures proved successful but it is their Leo the Lion trademark for which the organization is most famous. On April 10, 1924, Goldwyn Pictures was acquired by Marcus Loew and merged into his Metro Pictures Corporation. Despite the inclusion of his name, Goldwyn had no role in the management or production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Before the sale and merger of Goldwyn Pictures in April 1924, Goldwyn had established Samuel Goldwyn Productions in 1923 as a production-only operation (with no distribution arm). Their first feature was Potash and Perlmutter, released in September 1923 through First National Pictures. Some of the early productions bear the name Howard Productions, named for Goldwyn's wife Frances Howard. For 35 years, Goldwyn built a reputation in filmmaking and developed an eye for finding the talent for making films. William Wyler directed many of his most celebrated productions, and he hired writers such as Ben Hecht, Sidney Howard, Dorothy Parker, and Lillian Hellman. (According to legend, at a heated story conference Goldwyn scolded someone —in most accounts Mrs. Parker, who recalled he had once been a glove maker— with the retort: “Don't you point that finger at me. I knew it when it had a thimble on it!” During that time, Goldwyn made numerous films and reigned as the most successful independent producer in the US. Many of his films were forgettable; his collaboration with John Ford, however, resulted in Best Picture Oscar nomination for Arrowsmith (1931). William Wyler was responsible for most of Goldwyn's highly lauded films, with Best Picture Oscar nominations for Dodsworth (1936), Dead End (1937), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Little Foxes (1941) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1948). The leading actors in several of Goldwyn films, especially those directed by William Wyler, were also Oscar-nominated for their performances. Throughout the 1930s, Goldwyn released all his films through United Artists, but beginning in 1941, and continuing almost through the end of his career, Goldwyn released his films through RKO Radio Pictures. Goldwyn died at his home in Los Angeles in 1974 from natural causes, at the probable age of 94. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. In the 1980s, Samuel Goldwyn Studio was sold to Warner Bros. There is a theater named after him in Beverly Hills and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1631 Vine Street.
Known For
Filmography
Porgy and Bess
Movie · Producer
Guys and Dolls
Movie · Producer
Brooba
Movie · Production Consultant
Hans Christian Andersen
Movie · Producer
I Want You
Movie · Producer
Edge of Doom
Movie · Producer
My Foolish Heart
Movie · Producer
Our Very Own
Movie · Producer
Roseanna McCoy
Movie · Producer
A Song Is Born
Movie · Producer
Enchantment
Movie · Producer
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Movie · Producer
The Bishop's Wife
Movie · Producer
The Best Years of Our Lives
Movie · Producer
The Kid from Brooklyn
Movie · Producer
Wonder Man
Movie · Producer
Up in Arms
Movie · Producer
The Princess and the Pirate
Movie · Producer
They Got Me Covered
Movie · Producer
The North Star
Movie · Producer
The Pride of the Yankees
Movie · Producer
The Little Foxes
Movie · Producer
Ball of Fire
Movie · Producer
The Westerner
Movie · Producer
Wuthering Heights
Movie · Producer
The Real Glory
Movie · Producer
They Shall Have Music
Movie · Producer
Raffles
Movie · Producer
The Goldwyn Follies
Movie · Producer
The Adventures of Marco Polo
Movie · Producer
The Cowboy and the Lady
Movie · Producer
Woman Chases Man
Movie · Producer
Stella Dallas
Movie · Producer
Dead End
Movie · Producer
The Hurricane
Movie · Producer
Strike Me Pink
Movie · Producer
These Three
Movie · Producer
Dodsworth
Movie · Producer
Come and Get It
Movie · Producer
Beloved Enemy
Movie · Producer
The Wedding Night
Movie · Producer
The Dark Angel
Movie · Producer
Barbary Coast
Movie · Producer
Splendor
Movie · Producer
Nana
Movie · Producer
We Live Again
Movie · Producer
Kid Millions
Movie · Producer
The Masquerader
Movie · Producer
Roman Scandals
Movie · Producer
Arsène Lupin
Movie · Producer
The Greeks Had a Word for Them
Movie · Producer
The Kid from Spain
Movie · Producer
Cynara
Movie · Producer
Street Scene
Movie · Producer
Palmy Days
Movie · Producer
The Unholy Garden
Movie · Producer
Arrowsmith
Movie · Producer
Tonight or Never
Movie · Producer
Whoopee!
Movie · Producer
Raffles
Movie · Producer
The Devil to Pay!
Movie · Producer
One Heavenly Night
Movie · Producer
The Rescue
Movie · Executive Producer
Bulldog Drummond
Movie · Producer
This Is Heaven
Movie · Producer
Condemned!
Movie · Producer
The Awakening
Movie · Producer
Two Lovers
Movie · Producer
The Magic Flame
Movie · Producer
The Night of Love
Movie · Producer
The Devil Dancer
Movie · Producer
The Winning of Barbara Worth
Movie · Producer
Partners Again
Movie · Producer
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Movie · Producer
A Thief in Paradise
Movie · Producer
Stella Dallas
Movie · Producer
Name the Man
Movie · Executive Producer
Three Weeks
Movie · Executive Producer
Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model
Movie · Executive Producer
True As Steel
Movie · Executive Producer
Cytherea
Movie · Producer
In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter
Movie · Producer
The Christian
Movie · Executive Producer
Lost and Found on a South Sea Island
Movie · Producer
Potash and Perlmutter
Movie · Producer
The Eternal Three
Movie · Producer
Unseeing Eyes
Movie · Producer
The Day of Faith
Movie · Producer
The Eternal City
Movie · Producer
Slave of Desire
Movie · Producer
Watch Your Step
Movie · Executive Producer
Sherlock Holmes
Movie · Executive Producer
Head Over Heels
Movie · Executive Producer
His Back Against the Wall
Movie · Producer
Mr. Barnes of New York
Movie · Producer
Remembrance
Movie · Producer
A Blind Bargain
Movie · Producer
Hungry Hearts
Movie · Producer
Guile of Women
Movie · Producer
Boys Will Be Boys
Movie · Producer
A Tale of Two Worlds
Movie · Producer
Don't Neglect Your Wife
Movie · Producer
Oh Mary Be Careful
Movie · Producer
The Ace of Hearts
Movie · Producer
Doubling for Romeo
Movie · Producer
Partners of the Night
Movie · Producer
Jes' Call Me Jim
Movie · Producer
The Slim Princess
Movie · Producer
Cupid the Cowpuncher
Movie · Producer
The Penalty
Movie · Producer
The Truth
Movie · Producer
Honest Hutch
Movie · Producer
Officer 666
Movie · Executive Producer
The Great Lover
Movie · Producer
What Happened To Rosa
Movie · Producer
Pinto
Movie · Producer
Water, Water, Everywhere
Movie · Producer
The Paliser Case
Movie · Executive Producer
Sis Hopkins
Movie · Producer
The Stronger Vow
Movie · Executive Producer
Upstairs
Movie · Producer
Lord and Lady Algy
Movie · Producer
Almost a Husband
Movie · Executive Producer
Jubilo
Movie · Producer
The World and Its Woman
Movie · Executive Producer
The Floor Below
Movie · Producer
All Woman
Movie · Executive Producer
The Turn of the Wheel
Movie · Producer
Peck's Bad Girl
Movie · Producer
Laughing Bill Hyde
Movie · Producer
Thirty a Week
Movie · Producer
A Perfect 36
Movie · Producer
The Hell Cat
Movie · Executive Producer
A Perfect Lady
Movie · Producer
The Racing Strain
Movie · Producer
The Beloved Traitor
Movie · Producer
The Face in the Dark
Movie · Producer
Polly of the Circus
Movie · Executive Producer
Fighting Odds
Movie · Producer
The Cinderella Man
Movie · Executive Producer
The Spreading Dawn
Movie · Producer