21 Facts About David Selznick

David O Selznick was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca, both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture.

David Selznick added the "O" to distinguish himself from an uncle with the same name, and because he thought it had flair.

David Selznick studied at Columbia University in New York City and started training as an apprentice for his father until the elder's bankruptcy in 1923.

In 1926, David Selznick moved to Hollywood, and with the help of his father's connections, he gained a job as an assistant story editor at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

David Selznick left MGM for Paramount Pictures in 1928, where he worked until 1931.

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David Selznick discovered and signed a young actress who was quickly counted as one of the studio's big stars, Katharine Hepburn.

David Selznick spent a mere fifteen months as RKO production chief, resigning over a dispute with new corporate president Merlin Aylesworth concerning creative control.

David Selznick's tenure was widely considered masterful: In 1931, before he arrived, the studio had produced forty-two features for $16 million in total budgets.

David Selznick backed several major successes, including A Bill of Divorcement, with Cukor directing Hepburn's debut, and the monumental King Kong —largely Merian Cooper's brainchild, brought to life by the astonishing special effects work of Willis O'Brien.

When David Selznick later announced his departure from MGM, Garbo asked him to stay, offering to allow him the exclusive right to produce her films.

David Selznick longed to be an independent producer with his own studio.

David Selznick's successes continued with classics such as The Garden of Allah, The Prisoner of Zenda, A Star Is Born, Nothing Sacred, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Young in Heart, Made for Each Other, Intermezzo and Gone with the Wind, which remains the highest-grossing film of all time.

David Selznick had brought Hitchcock over from England, launching the director's American career.

David Selznick formed The Selznick Studio and returned to producing pictures with Since You Went Away, which he wrote.

David Selznick followed that with the Hitchcock films Spellbound and The Paradine Case, as well as Portrait of Jennie with Jennifer Jones.

David Selznick developed film projects and sold the packages to other producers.

In 1928, David Selznick began an on-again off-again affair with Jean Arthur, one of the actresses under contract at Paramount while he was an executive there.

In 1930, David Selznick married Mayer and after living in a series of rented houses they moved into an estate in Beverly Hills, California.

David Selznick was an amphetamine user, and often dictated long, rambling memos to his directors, writers, investors, staff and stars.

The documentary Shadowing The Third Man relates that David Selznick introduced The Third Man director Carol Reed to the use of amphetamines, which allowed Reed to bring the picture in below budget and on schedule by filming nearly 22 hours at a time.

David Selznick died on June 22,1965 at age 63 following several heart attacks, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.