David O. Selznick

David O. Selznick is a popular film producer and screenwriter, best known for his work in the 1939 American epic-historical romance film, Gone with the Wind. He was born on May 10, 1902, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. He is the son of Lewis J. Selznick, a producer, and distributor of films. He attended Columbia University in New York City. David shifted to Hollywood in 1926 and through his father’s connections, he earned a job at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as an Assistant Story Editor.

Later, he moved to Paramount Pictures and worked there until the year 1931. He became RKO Pictures’ Head of Production. From there, David has worked on several films including the 1932 American Pre-Code drama films, A Bill of Divorcement, What Price Hollywood?, and Rockabye, in the year 1932. He also donned Our Betters and the Pre-Code monster film, King Kong King Kong is an Indian film Actor and comedian ass >> Read More... , in 1933. Louis B. Mayer, David’s father-in-law, was the CEO of MGM in 1933. He gave him a production unit and produced films like Dinner at Eight, Anna Karenina, David Copperfield, and A Tale of Two Cities.

Although he already found success in Paramount Pictures, MGM, and RKO, David still aspires to become an independent producer and have his own production house. In 1935, he established RKO in Culver City and his very own, Selznick International Pictures. It produces films like The Garden of Allah; A Star is Born, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Made for Each Other, and a lot more including Gone with the Wind, which became the highest grossing film of all time during his era. During the year 1940, he produced the psychological thriller mystery film, Rebecca, which was directed by a British director, Alfred Hitchcock. Rebecca won the Best Picture Award at the Oscars. After this, his production team took a hiatus. He later developed The Selznick Studio and started to produce the very successful, Since You Went Away.

In 1945, he worked on Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound and Notorious in 1946. David also co-produced the British film noir, The Third Man, in 1949. In 1948, he stopped making films because he felt tired, considering that he had worked for quite so long. During the 50s, he spent his time building up Jennifer Jones’ (his 2nd wife) career. He produced the American drama film, A Farewell to Arms in 1957; this film stars Jones and Rock Hudson. In 1954, he moved into television and ventured in the two-hour television special, Light’s Diamond Jubilee.

This was aired on CBS, ABC, DuMont and NBC channels simultaneously. David got married to Irene Gladys Mayer in 1930, but they had a divorce in 1948. They have two sons namely Jeffrey and Daniel. He got married to Jennifer Jones in 1949 and had a daughter named Mary Jennifer in 1954; she died in 1976 after committing suicide. In 1965, David died due to heart attacks. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame because of his outstanding contribution to the industry.