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'' (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 category ...

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 ser ...

of the Brunswick-

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

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 company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. 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 Dis ...

. Two of the films he produced there, '' A Letter to Three Wives'' (1949) and '' Three Coins in the Fountain'' (1954), were nominated for the

. He also produced ''

The Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

'' (1948) and later the Marilyn Monroe musical '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', as well as the star-studded '' High Society'' for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring

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

, Grace Kelly,

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 vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

MGM

In 1956, Siegel joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Towards the end of the year,

Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...

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 base ...

'', '' Man on Fire'', '' Merry Andrew'', and '' Some Came Running''. 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 Ben-Hur or Ben Hur may refer to: Fiction *'' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'', an 1880 novel by American general and author Lew Wallace ** ''Ben-Hur'' (play), a play that debuted on Broadway in 1899 ** ''Ben Hur'' (1907 film), a one-reel silent ...

'' and '' North by Northwest''. During Siegel's time, MGM produced the major Cinerama epic '' How the West Was Won''. He was also the subject of an extortion 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''. 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 Robert M. Weitman (1905–1989) was an American film, TV and theatre producer and studio executive. For a number of years he was a leading executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, being head of production during a successful period in the 1960s under pr ...

.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