Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn (/ˈɡoʊldwɪn/; born Szmuel Gelbfisz; Yiddish: שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed but most likely July 1879) – January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish,[1] was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor and executive of several motion picture studios in Hollywood.[2] He was awarded the 1973 Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award,[3] the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (1947) and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1958).
For other uses, see Samuel Goldwyn (disambiguation).
Samuel Goldwyn
August 27, 1882 (claimed but most likely July 1879)
January 31, 1974 (aged 91)
Samuel Goldfish
1917–1959
2, including Samuel Jr.
Tony Goldwyn (grandson)
John Goldwyn (grandson)
Liz Goldwyn (granddaughter)
Early life[edit]
Goldwyn was likely born in July 1879, although he claimed his birthday to be August 27, 1882.[4] He was born as Szmuel Gelbfisz[a] in Warsaw to Polish Jewish Hasidic parents, Aaron Dawid Gelbfisz,[5] a peddler, and his wife, Hanna Frymet (née Fiszhaut).[6]
He left Warsaw penniless after his father's death and made his way to Hamburg. There he stayed with acquaintances of his family where he trained as a glove maker. On November 26, 1898, Gelbfisz left Hamburg for Birmingham, England, where he remained with relatives for six weeks under the name Samuel Goldfish. On January 4, 1899, he sailed from Liverpool, arrived in Philadelphia on January 19, and went to New York. He found work in upstate Gloversville, New York in the bustling glove business. Soon, his marketing skills made him a very successful salesman at the Elite Glove Company. After four years as vice-president of sales, he moved to New York City and settled at 10 West 61st Street.[7]
Goldwyn Pictures[edit]
In 1916, Goldfish partnered with Broadway producers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn,[11] using a combination of both names to call their film-making enterprise Goldwyn Pictures. Seeing an opportunity, he had his name legally changed to Samuel Goldwyn in December 1918[7] and used this name for the rest of his life. Goldwyn Pictures proved successful, but it is their "Leo the Lion" trademark for which the company is remembered today.
On April 10, 1924, Goldwyn Pictures was acquired by Marcus Loew and merged into his Metro Pictures Corporation, becoming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Despite including his name, Samuel Goldwyn was never connected with ownership, management, or production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Marriages[edit]
In 1910, Goldwyn married Blanche Lasky, a sister of Jesse L. Lasky. The marriage produced a daughter. The couple divorced in 1915. In 1925, he married actress Frances Howard, to whom he remained married for the rest of his life. Their son, Samuel Goldwyn Jr., eventually joined his father in the business.[16]
Despite his marriages, Samuel Goldwyn was known as a ladies' man in social circles. Goldwyn Girl Jean Howard was quoted saying, "Sam Goldwyn was not a fellow to make a pass in public; he had too much taste for that," but his dalliances were many, even as his wife Frances Howard turned a blind eye.[4]
Death[edit]
Goldwyn died of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles in 1974 at 91. In the 1980s, the Samuel Goldwyn Studio was sold to Warner Bros. There is a theater named after him in Beverly Hills and he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1631 Vine Street for his contributions to motion pictures on February 8, 1960.[17][18]
The Samuel Goldwyn Foundation[edit]
Samuel Goldwyn's will created a multimillion-dollar charitable foundation in his name. Among other endeavors, the Samuel Goldwyn Foundation funds the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards, provides construction funds for the Frances Howard Goldwyn Hollywood Regional Library, and provides ongoing funding for the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.
Goldwynisms[edit]
Goldwyn was also known for his malapropisms, paradoxes, and other speech errors called 'Goldwynisms' ("a humorous statement or phrase resulting from the use of incongruous or contradictory words, situations, idioms, etc.") and was frequently quoted. For example, he was reported to have said, "I don't think anybody should write his autobiography until after he's dead."[21] and "Include me out." Some famous Goldwyn quotations are misattributions. For example, the statement attributed to Goldwyn that "a verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on" is a well-documented misreporting of an actual quote praising the trustworthiness of a colleague: "His verbal contract is worth more than the paper it's written on". The identity of the colleague is variously reported as Joseph M. Schenck[22] or Joseph L. Mankiewicz.[23] Goldwyn himself was reportedly aware of—and pleased by—the misattribution.
Upon being told that a book he had purchased for filming, The Well of Loneliness, couldn't be filmed because it was about lesbians, he reportedly replied: "That's all right, we'll make them Hungarians." The same story was told about the 1934 rights to The Children's Hour with the response "That's okay; we'll turn them into Armenians."[24]
In the Grateful Dead's "Scarlet Begonias", the line "I ain't often right, but I've never been wrong" appears in the bridge. This is similar to Goldwyn's "I'm willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong."[25]
