Irving Thalberg: The Legendary Hollywood Producer Known as 'Hollywood's Child Prodigy'2 photos

Learn about Irving Thalberg's life and career. Thalberg entered Hollywood as the secretary of Carl Lammler, the founder of Universal Pictures. When Lammler went on a long trip abroad, he left Thalberg in charge of the studio. In 1924, Thalberg joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and gained worldwide recognition with his successful film "The Big Parade". His relentless pursuit of perfection led competitors to jokingly call MGM "the Valley of Re-shoots," as they had to repeatedly shoot scenes that did not satisfy Thalberg. Although many Hollywood stars owed their careers to Thalberg, he preferred to remain in the shadows and refused to have his name credited in film credits. The success of Thalberg's films was so great that Louis B. Mayer eventually handed over full control of film production to him, leaving only financial matters to his own discretion. In 1927, Thalberg married actress Norma Shearer. Three years later, they had a son named Irving, and two years after that, health problems forced Thalberg to take a break from work. During his illness, Louis B. Mayer replaced him as studio director, appointing his son-in-law D. Selznick. Despite this, Thalberg remained loyal to MGM until 1936, when he began planning to establish his own studio. A year later, he died of pneumonia.

F. Scott Fitzgerald mentioned Thalberg in his unfinished novel "The Last Magnate" as the character Monroe Starr.