Myron Selznick (October 5, 1898 – March 23, 1944) was an American film producer and

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

Life and career

Born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, Pennsylvania, Selznick was the son of film executive Lewis J. Selznick and brother of renowned producer David O. Selznick. As a young man, Myron Selznick learned the film production business from his father and worked for his father's film company as a production supervisor. In December 1918 while his father's publicity was declining, he signed

Olive Thomas Olive Thomas (born Oliva R. Duffy; October 20, 1894 – September 10, 1920) was an American silent-film actress, art model, and photo model. Thomas began her career as an illustrator's model in 1914, and moved on to the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' th ...

for $1,000 a week and put the Selznick name up in lights again. As he was still a minor at the time, his mother had to sign the contract on his behalf. After his father's company closed in 1925, Selznick worked for other studios, primarily as a production adviser. However, with his industry connections, and aided by his brother's rise as one of the most powerful film producers in Hollywood, he saw a business opportunity and set himself up as a talent agent. Partnered with Frank Coleman Joyce, the brother of actress Alice Joyce, they formed Joyce-Selznick, Ltd., the first Los Angeles talent agency. The agency became so successful that

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 Dis ...

wound up banning him from their lot out of a concern that he was inflating too many actors' salaries.Profile of Myron Selznick

Personal life

Selznick married Marjorie Daw in 1925; the couple divorced in 1942. He owned the

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse "Can't Wait", which finished third in the 1938 Kentucky Derby.

Death

Selznick died in 1944, aged 45, and was buried at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery (now the

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angel ...

) in Hollywood near the Paramount and R.K.O. studios. The pallbearers at his funeral included producer

Walter Wanger Walter Wanger (born Walter Feuchtwanger; July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an American film producer active from the 1910s, his career concluding with the turbulent production of '' Cleopatra,'' his last film, in 1963. He began at Para ...

and actor

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters cr ...

, who read the funeral oration. Later that year he was disinterred and buried in a crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California, where he was later joined by his brother, David.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Selznick, Myron 1898 births 1944 deaths Film producers from Pennsylvania American racehorse owners and breeders American talent agents Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Businesspeople from Pittsburgh 20th-century American businesspeople