William B Goetz was an American film producer and studio executive.
16 Facts About William Goetz
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William Goetz's mother died when he was ten years old and shortly thereafter his father abandoned the family.
3.
In 1932, Goetz received the financial support necessary from his new father-in-law, Louis B Mayer, to become a minor partner with Joseph Schenck, the former president of United Artists, and Darryl F Zanuck from Warner Bros.
4.
William Goetz served as vice president of 20th Century Fox, but in 1942, he took charge of the studio temporarily when Zanuck, a veteran of World War I, joined the United States military effort in World War II.
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William Goetz liked the top role in the company, and after Zanuck returned, relationships became strained.
6.
In 1943, William Goetz resigned to form his own independent company with Leo Spitz, a former lawyer who worked as a movie company advisor.
7.
William Goetz was made president and placed in charge of production for the newly merged Universal-International studio.
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In 1949, William Goetz called upon his close friendship with MCA head Lew Wasserman, one of the more powerful agents in Hollywood.
9.
Universal-International was acquired by Decca Records in late 1951, and William Goetz was replaced by Edward Muhl in 1953.
10.
William Goetz made 1957's Sayonara, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.
11.
William Goetz signed a six-picture deal with Columbia Pictures and produced Me and the Colonel, They Came to Cordura, The Mountain Road, Song Without End and Cry for Happy.
12.
William Goetz's brother-in-law was film producer David O Selznick to whom Irene was married from April 1930 to 1949.
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William Goetz was a liberal Democrat and enthusiastically campaigned for Adlai Stevenson II in the 1952 presidential election.
14.
In 1949, a controversy erupted over a Vincent van Gogh self-portrait titled Study by Candlelight that William Goetz had purchased two years earlier.
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The painting remained controversial and was not put up for auction with the rest of the William Goetz collection following Edith William Goetz's death in 1987.
16.
William Goetz was buried in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.