Sol C. Siegel (March 30, 1903 – December 29, 1982) was an American film producer. Two of the numerous films he produced, ''

A Letter to Three Wives ''A Letter to Three Wives'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them, but not saying which one. It stars Jeanne Cr ...

'' (1949) and '' Three Coins in the Fountain'' (1954), were nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only catego ...

Early life and career

Sol C. Siegel was born on March 30, 1903, in New York City. In the early 1930s, Siegel was

sales manager Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales through the sale of products and s ...

of the Brunswick- Columbia record label. In 1934, he began his Hollywood career by assisting his brother, Moe Siegel, with the merger of six small production studios into

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

. He stayed on at Republic as an executive producer, working with

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

and

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

. Sol C.Siegel was born March 30 or 31st (local records lost during WWII) in Kalvarija, Poland, now Lithuania. During a contract dispute between Republic Studios and Gene Autry Mr. Siegel brought in a member of a singing group called "The Sons of the Pioneers", whose name was Leonard Slye, and changed his screen name to Roy Rogers.

Producer

In October 1940, Siegel left his position as head of Republic Studios to be a producer at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-olde ...

. In 1946, he moved to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

. Two of the films he produced there, ''

'' (1949) and '' Three Coins in the Fountain'' (1954), were nominated for the

. He also produced '' The Iron Curtain'' (1948) and later the Marilyn Monroe musical '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', as well as the star-studded ''

High Society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...

'' for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

starring

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kell ...

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

, and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

MGM

In 1956, Siegel joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Towards the end of the year, Dore Schary was fired as head of production and Siegel was rumoured to be given his job. However Ben Thau got the job and Siegel remained a producer, making ''

Les Girls ''Les Girls'' (also known as ''Cole Porter's Les Girls'') is a 1957 American CinemaScope musical comedy film directed by George Cukor and produced by Sol C. Siegel, with Saul Chaplin as associate producer. The screenplay by John Patrick was bas ...

'', '' Man on Fire'', '' Merry Andrew'', and ''

Some Came Running ''Some Came Running'' is a novel by James Jones, published in 1958. It was Jones's second published novel, following his award-winning debut ''From Here to Eternity''. It is the story of a war veteran with literary aspirations who returns in ...

''. Siegel was appointed head of studio operations at MGM for three years in April 1958. The following month he was appointed vice president in charge of production. By this stage, the studio had already greenlit a number of movies that would go on to be major successes, including '' Ben-Hur'' and '' North by Northwest''. During Siegel's time, MGM produced the major

Cinerama Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporat ...

epic '' How the West Was Won''. He was also the subject of an

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, al ...

attempt. The success of ''Ben-Hur'' encouraged Siegel to authorise a series of remakes at MGM such as '' Cimarron'', '' Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'', and ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set ...

''. All these films lost money for the studio. This — along with a number of other box office failures — led to him being replaced as head of production in January 1962 by Robert M. Weitman.MGM Undergoes Change of Guard: Weitmain Replaces Sol Siegel; Sullivan, Crawford to Spain Hopper, Hedda. ''Los Angeles Times'' 06 Jan 1962: A6. Siegel then began working as an independent producer. He ran his own production company from 1964 to 1967. Siegel died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on December 29, 1982, aged 79.

Personal life

He was married to Ruth (Shor) Siegel until her death in 1962; together they had three sons, Andrew, Norman, and Richard.

Selected filmography

Unmade films

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Sol 1903 births 1982 deaths 20th Century Studios people American film producers Film serial crew American film studio executives Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives 20th-century American businesspeople