| King Vidor | |
|---|---|
| Born | King Wallis Vidor February 8, 1894 Galveston, Texas, USA |
| Died | November 1, 1982 (aged 88) Paso Robles, California, USA |
| Spouse(s) | Florence Vidor (1915-1924) Eleanor Boardman (1926-1931) Elizabeth Hill (1932-1982) |
King Wallis Vidor (February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an acclaimed American film director whose career spanned eight decades. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common "Galveston" redirects here For the town in the US state of Indiana see Galveston Indiana. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 996 - Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk Bishop of Freising which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Paso Robles (full name El Paso de Robles) is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 996 - Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk Bishop of Freising which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film.
He was born in Galveston, Texas, where he survived the great Galveston Hurricane of 1900. "Galveston" redirects here For the town in the US state of Indiana see Galveston Indiana. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State.
Contents |
Career
A freelance newsreel cameraman and cinema projectionist, he made his debut as a director in 1913 with Hurricane in Galveston. A newsreel is a Documentary film that is regularly released in a public presentation place containing filmed News stories A Projectionist is a person whose profession entails the operating of a Movie projector. Hurricane in Galveston is a 1913 short Drama film directed by King Vidor. In Hollywood from 1915, he worked on a variety of film-related jobs before directing a feature film, The Turn in the Road, in 1919. The Turn in the Road is a 1919 silent Drama film directed by King Vidor. A successful mounting of Peg o' My Heart in 1922 got him a long term contract with Goldwyn Studios, later to be absorbed into MGM. Peg o' My Heart is a 1922 silent Drama film directed by King Vidor. Three years later he made The Big Parade, among the most acclaimed war films of the silent era, and a tremendous commercial success. The Big Parade is a 1925 Silent film which tells the story of an idle rich boy who joins the Army and is sent to France to fight in This success established him as one of MGM's top studio directors for the next decade. In 1928, Vidor received his first Oscar nomination, for The Crowd, widely regarded as his masterpiece and one of the greatest American silent films. The Crowd is an American Silent film released in 1928 and directed by King Vidor. In the same year, he made the classic Show People, the last silent film of Marion Davies, a comedy about the film industry in which Vidor had a cameo as himself. Show People ( 1928) is a Comedy Silent film produced at Cosmopolitan Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and directed Marion Davies ( January 3, 1897 &ndash September 22, 1961) was an American film Actress.
Vidor's first sound film was Hallelujah!, a groundbreaking film featuring an African American cast, and in which he established the new language for sound films (Which is still used today by most directors). The film Hallelujah! ( 1929) was an MGM musical directed by King Vidor, starring Daniel L His directorial career extended well in to the sound era and he continued making feature films until the late 1950s. Some of his better known sound films include Stella Dallas, Our Daily Bread, The Citadel, Duel in the Sun, The Fountainhead, and War and Peace. Stella Dallas is a 1937 film based on the novel of the same name. Our Daily Bread is a 1934 film directed by King Vidor and starring Karen Morley, Tom Keene, and John Qualen. The Citadel is a 1938 film based on the novel by A J Cronin, first published in 1937. Duel in the Sun is a 1946 Western film, produced by David O Selznick, which tells the story of a Mestiza (half- Native American The Fountainhead is a 1949 American Drama film based on the book of the same name by Ayn Rand. War and Peace is the first English film version of the novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. He directed the Kansas sequences in The Wizard of Oz (including "Over the Rainbow") when director Victor Fleming had to replace George Cukor on Gone with the Wind, but never received screen credit. The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical - Fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s " Over the Rainbow " (sometimes mistakenly known as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is a Song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E For the Arkansas lawyer and judge Victor A Fleming, see Vic Fleming. George Dewey Cukor ( July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an Academy Award -winning American Film director. Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American dramatic - romantic - War film adapted from Margaret Mitchell 's 1936
Vidor entered in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest career as a film director: beginning in 1913 with Hurricane in Galveston and ending in 1980 with a short documentary on painting entitled The Metaphor. Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records (and in previous U He was nominated five times for an Oscar but never won in direct competition; he received an honorary award in 1979. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film.
William Desmond Taylor
In 1967, Vidor researched the unsolved 1922 murder of fellow director William Desmond Taylor for a possible screenplay. William Desmond Taylor ( April 26, 1872 – February 1, 1922) was an actor successful US Film director of Silent Vidor never published or wrote of this research during his lifetime, but biographer Sidney D. Kirkpatrick posthumously examined Vidor's notes. Sidney D Kirkpatrick (born 1955 is an award winning documentary film maker and a bestselling historical author He alleged in his 1986 book Cast of Killers that Vidor had solved the sensational crime but kept his conclusions private to protect individuals still living at the time. The widely cited newsletter Taylorology later noted over 100 factual errors in Cast of Killers and strongly disputes Kirkpatrick's conclusions but credits the book with renewing popular interest in the crime. Taylorology was a Fanzine centered on the unsolved 1922 murder of Hollywood silent film director William Desmond Taylor.
Personal life
Vidor published his autobiography, A Tree is A Tree, in 1976. This book's title is inspired by an incident early in Vidor's Hollywood career. Vidor wanted to film a movie in the locations where its story was set, a decision which would have greatly added to the film's production budget. A budget minded producer told him, "A rock is a rock. A tree is a tree. Shoot it in Griffith Park" (a nearby public space which was frequently used for film exterior shots). Griffith Park is a large public Park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Vidor was married three times:
- Florence Arto (1917-1924); one daughter
- Suzanne (born 1919) (Florence later married Jascha Heifetz, who adopted Suzanne);
- Eleanor Boardman (1926-1931); two daughters
- Elizabeth Hill (1932-1982)
Filmography
|
|
External links
- King Vidor at the Internet Movie Database
- King Wallis Vidor from the Handbook of Texas Online
- King Vidor at Find A Grave
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Vidor, King |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Vidor, King Wallis |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Film director |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 8, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Galveston, Texas, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 1, 1982 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Paso Robles, California, United States |
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic