Irving Thalberg

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Irving Thalberg Fast Facts:

Suffered from a rheumatic heart condition his whole life and was not expected to live past the age of 30.
Learned speed typing and shorthand after high school, which landed him a secretarial job at the New York offices of Universal Film Manufacturing Co. in 1918. Eventually left to become vice president and head of production for Louis B. Mayer.
Dubbed "the Boy Wonder," he set high standards and developed many prestigious films while at MGM.
Helped revive the career of the Marx Brothers.
Often credited with instituting the sneak preview for measuring audience response and a film's box-office potential.
One of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
Refusing to accept any on-screen credit for work, his name appeared posthumously on one film, The Good Earth in 1937.
Was the basis for the lead character in F. Scott Fitzgerald's final novel, The Last Tycoon.
Following his death due to pneumonia, AMPAS instituted the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented periodically to a producer whose work displays a high level of motion picture production excellence.