Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Darryl Francis Zanuck , Darryl Zanuck , Mark Canfield , Melville Crossman , Gregory Rogers

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Wahoo, Nebraska, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 307

TV Involvements: 0


Most Famous Work

Biography

Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902 – December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors (the length of his career was rivaled only by that of Adolph Zukor). He produced three films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture during his tenure. Zanuck was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, the son of Sarah Louise (née Torpin), who later married Charles Norton, and Frank Harvey Zanuck, who owned and operated a hotel in Wahoo. He had an older brother, Donald (1893–1903), who died in an accident when he was only 9 years old. Zanuck was of partial Swiss descent, and raised a Protestant. At age six, Zanuck and his mother moved to Los Angeles, where the better climate could improve her poor health. At age eight, he found his first movie job as an extra, but his disapproving father recalled him to Nebraska. In 1917, despite being 15, he deceived a recruiter, joined the United States Army, and served in France with the Nebraska National Guard during World War I. Upon returning to the US, he worked in many part-time jobs while seeking work as a writer. He found work producing movie plots, and sold his first story in 1922 to William Russell and his second to Irving Thalberg. Screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas, story editor at Universal Pictures' New York office, stated that one of the stories Zanuck sent out to movie studios around this time was completely plagiarized from another author's work. Zanuck then worked for Mack Sennett and FBO (where he wrote the serials The Telephone Girl and The Leather Pushers) and took that experience to Warner Bros., where he wrote stories for Rin Tin Tin and under a number of pseudonyms wrote over 40 scripts from 1924 to 1929, including Red Hot Tires (1925) and Old San Francisco (1927). He moved into management in 1929, and became head of production in 1931. In 1933, Zanuck left Warner Bros. over a salary dispute with studio head Jack L. Warner. A few days later, he partnered with Joseph Schenck to form 20th Century Pictures, Inc. with financial help from Joseph's brother Nicholas Schenck and Louis B. Mayer, president and studio head of Loew's, Inc and its subsidiary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, along with William Goetz and Raymond Griffith. 20th Century released its material through United Artists. During that short time (1933–1935), 20th Century became the most successful independent movie studio of its time, breaking box-office records with 18 of its 19 films, all profitable, including Clive of India, Les Miserables, and The House of Rothschild. After a dispute with United Artists over stock ownership, Schenck and Zanuck negotiated and used their studio to bring the bankrupt Fox studios in 1935 to create Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. Zanuck was Vice President of Production of this new studio and took a hands-on approach, closely involving himself in scripts, film editing, and producing. ... Source: Article "Darryl F. Zanuck" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Most Famous Work

Baby Face
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7

Baby Face

(1933) Story
All About Eve
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8

All About Eve

(1950) Producer
The Longest Day
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8

The Longest Day

(1962) Producer
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
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6

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

(1952) Producer
How Green Was My Valley
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7

How Green Was My Valley

(1941) Producer
The Grapes of Wrath
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8

The Grapes of Wrath

(1940) Producer
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Average
7

Tora! Tora! Tora!

(1970) Executive Producer
Gentleman's Agreement
Average
7

Gentleman's Agreement

(1947) Producer

Acting

Production

Year Role Movie/Tv
1973 Producer
1970 Executive Producer
1965 Executive Producer
1964 Producer
1962 Producer
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1961 Producer
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1960 Producer
1958 Producer
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1957 Producer
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1956 Executive Producer
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1955 Executive Producer
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1954 Executive Producer
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1953 Executive Producer
1952 Producer
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1951 Producer
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1950 Producer
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1949 Producer
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1948 Executive Producer
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1947 Executive Producer
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1946 Producer
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1945 Executive Producer
1944 Producer
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1943 Executive Producer
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1942 Producer
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1941 Producer
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1940 Producer
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1939 Producer
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Executive Producer
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Executive In Charge Of Production
Producer
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Executive Producer
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1938 Executive Producer
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1937 Producer
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Executive Producer
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Production Manager
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Executive In Charge Of Production
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1936 Executive Producer
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Production Manager
Executive Producer
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Executive In Charge Of Production
Executive Producer
Producer
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Production Manager
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1935 Producer
Production Manager
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1934 Producer
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1933 Producer
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1932 Producer
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Executive Producer
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1931 Executive Producer
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1930 Executive Producer
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1929 Producer
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1928 Associate Producer
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Production Supervisor
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1927 Producer
Associate Producer
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1926 Producer
1925 Producer
Producer
Year Role Movie/Tv

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1960 Writer
1944 Story
1942 Screenplay
Story
1941 Story
1935 Novel
1933 Story
Story
1932 Story
1930 Writer
Story
1929 Story
Story
1928 Story
Story
Story
Story
Story
Story
1927 Story
Writer
Writer
Story
Story
Story
Story
Story
Story
Scenario Writer
1926 Screenplay
Adaptation
Writer
Scenario Writer
Adaptation
Writer
1925 Writer
Story
Story
Writer
Scenario Writer
Writer
1924 Writer
Writer
Scenario Writer
Co-Writer
1923 Writer
Writer
Writer
Year Role Movie/Tv

Crew

Year Role Movie/Tv
1950 Presenter
1948 Presenter
1947 Additional Writing
1945 Presenter
Year Role Movie/Tv

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1942 Director
Year Role Movie/Tv

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