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Film and Music Production: I hope to some day produce a body of films that will be worthy of "The Thalberg Memorial Award". Irving Thalberg (1899 - 1936) Condensed biography from Baseline's Encyclopedia of Film Born in Brooklyn, NY. From the late 1920s until his death in 1936, Irving Thalberg was the stuff of legend, regarded in the American film industry with a mixture of respect, awe, envy and fear. Unknown to the general public, Thalberg, through his obsessive concern with quality film production and his unwavering faith in public opinion, became the paragon of the studio factory system and an exemplar of public taste. As production head at MGM, Thalberg trod the delicate line between commerce and art and in the process transformed the studio into the pinnacle of the Hollywood system. Thalberg began his career in film as a teenager fresh out of high school, joining Universal in 1918 as a secretary at their New York offices. Working exclusively for studio patriarch Carl Laemmle, he worked his way up the corporate ladder and by the time he was 21 had become executive in charge of production at Universal City in California. At Universal, Thalberg sought to upgrade the quality of the studio's product and to rein in profligate costs on its "Jewel" productions. In the first instance, Thalberg oversaw Universal's first major production, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923), from pre-production planning to editing and promotion, resulting in a tremendous success for the studio. In the second instance, he clashed with autocratic director-star Erich von Stroheim, ordering substantial cuts in FOOLISH WIVES (1922) and removing him from the helm of MERRY-GO-ROUND (1923). But Thalberg's efforts went unrewarded by the parsimonious Laemmle and the young executive resigned in 1923 to take a production position with fledgling Louis B. Mayer Productions. Soon after Thalberg's defection from Universal, Marcus Loew and Nicholas Schenck of Metro Pictures merged with Louis B. Mayer Productions to become a fully integrated film company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Thalberg came along with the package and was named supervisor of production. Once again, he clashed with von Stroheim, cutting his mammoth version of GREED (1924) down to two hours and overseeing every aspect of production on THE MERRY WIDOW (1925). This muzzling of von Stroheim marked the demise of the era of the flamboyant producer-director and heralded the birth of a new order with the studio production system. The litmus test for the "new order" was THE BIG PARADE (1925); its spectacular success (it reportedly became the most profitable film of the silent era) validated Thalberg's production methods. Thalberg's strategy became synonymous with the MGM house style that held sway into the late 1940s: he combined intensive pre-production preparation with a post-production system of previews designed to gauge audience reactions and determine ensuing retakes. Working with Louis B. Mayer and facilities supervisor Eddie Mannix, Thalberg oversaw every MGM production until 1932 to ensure that the highest standards were maintained. Sustaining a virtual highwire act between the money men in New York and the studio artists and technicians in Los Angeles, Thalberg transformed MGM into the most profitable and respected studio in the industry with such prestige successes as THE BROADWAY MELODY (1929), GRAND HOTEL (1932) and RED DUST (1932). In 1932, Thalberg was dealt a crushing blow when one of his associate producers, Paul Bern, committed suicide. His reaction was to pour himself pell-mell into MGM's upcoming productions. Never in strong health following a sickly childhood, he suffered a physical collapse at the end of the year, creating a power vacuum that Mayer, smoldering with resentment over Thalberg's power, readily filled, hiring David Selznick and Walter Wanger as unit producers. When Thalberg returned in August of 1933, it was as another unit producer, with his system of production supervision scrapped. Even as a unit producer, Thalberg helped create such hits as MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935), A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935), SAN FRANCISCO (1936) and THE GOOD EARTH (1937). But his health continued to deteriorate and, during pre-production on A DAY AT THE RACES (1937), he contracted pneumonia and died at the age of 37. He was married to actress Norma Shearer.Nominated for Picture 1929-30: THE BIG HOUSE - Producer Nominated for Picture 1930-31: TRADER HORN - Producer * Picture 1931-32: GRAND HOTEL - Producer Nominated for Picture 1932-33: SMILIN' THRU - Producer Nominated for Picture 1934: THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET - Producer * Picture 1935: MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY - Producer Nominated for Picture 1936: ROMEO AND JULIET - Producer Nominated for Picture 1937: THE GOOD EARTH - Producer )Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award is voted by the Academy's Board of Governors and is presented to "creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production."It was named in honor of the man who became head of production at the Universal Film Manufacturing Co. at the age of 20 and three years later vice president and head of production for Louis B. Mayer. A year later, Mayer's studio became part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) with Thalberg assuming the position of vice president and supervisor of production. Over the next eight years MGM became Hollywood's most prestigious film studio, with Thalberg personally supervising the studio's top productions. Thalberg died of pneumonia in 1936 at the age of 37. The following year, the Academy instituted the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. The award is a solid bronze head of Thalberg, resting on a black marble base. It weighs 10 and 3/4 pounds and is nine inches tall. The Thalberg bust in use today (there were two earlier versions) was sculpted by Gualberto Rocchi in 1957 and was first used in 1961 when Stanley Kramer received the award. The award is not necessarily given each year. Recipients of the Thalberg Award are:1937 10th DARRYL F. ZANUCK 1966 39th ROBERT WISE 1938 11th HAL B. WALLIS 1967 40th ALFRED HITCHCOCK 1939 12th DAVID O. SELZNICK 1970 43rd INGMAR BERGMAN 1941 14th WALT DISNEY 1973 46th LAWRENCE WEINGARTEN 1942 15th SIDNEY FRANKLIN 1975 48th MERVYN LEROY 1943 16th HAL B. WALLIS 1976 49th PANDRO S. BERMAN 1944 17th DARRYL F. ZANUCK 1977 50th WALTER MIRISCH 1946 19th SAMUEL GOLDWYN 1979 52nd RAY STARK 1948 21st JERRY WALD 1981 54th ALBERT R. BROCCOLI 1950 23rd DARRYL F. ZANUCK 1986 59th STEVEN SPIELBERG 1951 24th ARTHUR FREED 1987 60th BILLY WILDER 1952 25th CECIL B. DEMILLE 1990 63rd DAVID BROWN RICHARD D. ZANUCK 1953 26th GEORGE STEVENS 1991 64th GEORGE LUCAS 1956 29th BUDDY ADLER 1994 67th CLINT EASTWOOD 1958 31st JACK L. WARNER 1996 69th SAUL ZAENTZ 1961 34th STANLEY KRAMER 1998 71st NORMAN JEWISON 1963 36th SAM SPIEGEL 1999 72nd WARREN BEATTY 1965 38th WILLIAM WYLER 2000 73rd DINO DE LAURENTIIS.... width="425" height="350" 2005 Clemson Football

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