PARES | Spanish Archives

Identification

Type:

Person

Preferred form:

LeRoy, Mervyn (1900-1987)Other forms

Fechas de existencia:

San Francisco (California, Estados Unidos) 1900-10-15 - Los Ángeles (California, Estados Unidos) 1987-09-13

History:

US actor, producer, and film director. In 1927 he began his career as a director with the film "No Place to Go." In 1928 he directed his first great success, "Harold Teen". That same year he filmed his first sound movie, "Naughty Baby". In 1931 he shot "Little Caesar", whose success gave him a great reputation, becoming one of the best directors of the time. During the 30s, several of his films dealt with social problems, such as "I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang" (1932). In 1939, after the death of Irving Thalberg (1899-1936), he became the president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producing that same year "The Wizard of Oz". In the 40s he directed "Johnny Eager" (1941), "Random Harvest" (1942), and "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" (1944). After the decline of the film studio system in 1950, he founded his own production company. Some of his works as director are "Gold Diggers of 1933" (1933), "I Found Stella Parish" (1935), and "Little Women" (1949).