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Samuel Goldwyn Biography

Birth Name:Schmuel Gelbfisz

Birth Place:Warsaw, Poland

Profession Producer, Actor

Fast Facts

  • Won the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award for his contributions to the film industry in 1947
  • Arrived in New York as a teenager and worked in a glove factory, becoming partner in the company by his mid-20s
  • Co-founded the Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company with vaudeville producer Jesse Lasky, whose sister he had married in 1910, and their first film, 1914's "The Squaw Man," was the first feature-length film to be produced in Hollywood
  • Quote: "(On becoming an independent producer in 1923): "I found that it took a world of time trying to explain my plans to my associates; now I can save all that time and energy, and put it into making better pictures․""
  • Co-founded the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation with Broadway producers Edgar and Arch Selwyn but left when the company merged with Metro Pictures, although he did keep the name
  • Was constantly driven to perfect the films he worked on and the people who worked on them, leading to what became known as "the Goldwyn touch," which typically resulted in several displeased employees but a much better finished film
  • Some of his best films were 1936's "Dodsworth," 1939's "Wuthering Heights," 1941's "The Little Foxes," and 1946's "The Best Years of Our Lives․"
  • Best known as a film producer who helped to found a number of motion picture studios in Hollywood, including Paramount and MGM
  • His colorful but illogical "Goldwynisms" were well-known, including "Include me out" and "I'll tell you in two words: im-possible!"
  • Joined United Artists in 1926, a production company founded by Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, but left in 1939 after a falling out with Pickford