Production
Darryl F. Zanuck
FR, IT, EN, CA cinema · 299 credits
Born
5 September 1902
Died
22 December 1979 (aged 77)
Birthplace
Wahoo, Nebraska, USA
Also known as Darryl Francis Zanuck · Darryl Zanuck · Mark Canfield · Melville Crossman · Gregory Rogers
Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902 – December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors (the length of his career was rivaled only by that of Adolph Zukor). He produced three films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture during his tenure. Zanuck was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, the son of Sarah Louise (née Torpin), who later married Charles Norton, and Frank Harvey Zanuck, who owned and operated a hotel in Wahoo. He had an older brother, Donald (1893–1903), who died in an accident when he was only 9 years old. Zanuck was of partial Swiss descent, and raised a Protestant. At age six, Zanuck and his mother moved to Los Angeles, where the better climate could improve her poor health. At age eight, he found his first movie job as an extra, but his disapproving father recalled him to Nebraska. In 1917, despite being 15, he deceived a recruiter, joined the United States Army, and served in France with the Nebraska National Guard during World War I. Upon returning to the US, he worked in many part-time jobs while seeking work as a writer. He found work producing movie plots, and sold his first story in 1922 to William Russell and his second to Irving Thalberg. Screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas, story editor at Universal Pictures' New York office, stated that one of the stories Zanuck sent out to movie studios around this time was completely plagiarized from another author's work. Zanuck then worked for Mack Sennett and FBO (where he wrote the serials The Telephone Girl and The Leather Pushers) and took that experience to Warner Bros., where he wrote stories for Rin Tin Tin and under a number of pseudonyms wrote over 40 scripts from 1924 to 1929, including Red Hot Tires (1925) and Old San Francisco (1927). He moved into management in 1929, and became head of production in 1931. In 1933, Zanuck left Warner Bros. over a salary dispute with studio head Jack L. Warner. A few days later, he partnered with Joseph Schenck to form 20th Century Pictures, Inc. with financial help from Joseph's brother Nicholas Schenck and Louis B. Mayer, president and studio head of Loew's, Inc and its subsidiary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, along with William Goetz and Raymond Griffith. 20th Century released its material through United Artists. During that short time (1933–1935), 20th Century became the most successful independent movie studio of its time, breaking box-office records with 18 of its 19 films, all profitable, including Clive of India, Les Miserables, and The House of Rothschild. After a dispute with United Artists over stock ownership, Schenck and Zanuck negotiated and used their studio to bring the bankrupt Fox studios in 1935 to create Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. Zanuck was Vice President of Production of this new studio and took a hands-on approach, closely involving himself in scripts, film editing, and producing. ... Source: Article "Darryl F. Zanuck" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known for
Filmography
Rat Pack
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Invasion
as Self (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
as Self (archive footage)
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
as Self (archive footage)
Filmmakers vs. Tycoons
as Self (archive footage)
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
Backstory: 'Gentleman's Agreement'
as Self (archive footage)
Backstory: 'How Green Was My Valley'
as Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra's American Dream
as Self (archive footage)
Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker
as Self (archive footage)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
as Self (archive footage)
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
as Self (archive footage)
Hung Up
Producer
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Executive Producer
D-Day Revisited
as Self
The Agony and the Ecstasy
Executive Producer
The Visit
Producer
The Longest Day
Producer, Co-Director
The Chapman Report
Producer
The Big Gamble
Producer
Sanctuary
Producer
Crack in the Mirror
Writer, Producer
The Barbarian and the Geisha
Executive Producer
The Roots of Heaven
Producer
The Sun Also Rises
Producer
Island in the Sun
Producer
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Producer, Presenter
The King and I
Executive Producer
On the Threshold of Space
Executive Producer
Seven Cities of Gold
Executive Producer
Good Morning, Miss Dove
Executive Producer
The View from Pompey's Head
Executive Producer
The Egyptian
Producer
Broken Lance
Executive Producer
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef
Executive Producer
Viva Zapata!
Producer
People Will Talk
Producer
David and Bathsheba
Producer
The Screen Writer
1950
The Screen Writer
as Self (uncredited)
All About Eve
Producer
Night and the City
Executive Producer
A Ticket to Tomahawk
Executive Producer
Under My Skin
Executive Producer
No Way Out
Presenter, Producer
The Gunfighter
Executive Producer
Pinky
Producer
Everybody Does It
Executive Producer
The Forbidden Street
Executive Producer
Sand
Executive Producer
The Fan
Executive Producer
It Happens Every Spring
Executive Producer
Father Was a Fullback
Executive Producer
Slattery's Hurricane
Executive Producer
Twelve O'Clock High
Producer
You're My Everything
Executive Producer
The Snake Pit
Executive Producer
The Walls of Jericho
Executive Producer
Call Northside 777
Executive Producer
Fury at Furnace Creek
Executive Producer
Cry of the City
Executive Producer
Give My Regards to Broadway
Executive Producer
Road House
Executive Producer
That Wonderful Urge
Executive Producer
Apartment for Peggy
Executive Producer
The Iron Curtain
Presenter
Boomerang!
Executive Producer
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
Executive Producer
The Foxes of Harrow
Executive Producer
Carnival in Costa Rica
Executive Producer
Moss Rose
Executive Producer
The Homestretch
Executive Producer
Nightmare Alley
Executive Producer
Forever Amber
Executive Producer
Captain from Castile
Executive Producer
I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
Additional Writing
Claudia and David
Executive Producer
Dragonwyck
Producer
Somewhere in the Night
Executive Producer
Strange Triangle
Executive Producer
Centennial Summer
Executive Producer
The Razor's Edge
Producer
My Darling Clementine
Presenter
Leave Her to Heaven
Executive Producer, Presenter
The Purple Heart
Producer, Story
Buffalo Bill
Executive Producer
Wilson
Producer
Winged Victory
Producer
Lifeboat
Executive Producer
Crash Dive
Executive Producer
Wintertime
Executive Producer
China Girl
Screenplay, Producer
Thunder Birds
Story, Executive Producer
Sex Hygiene
Producer
Song of the Islands
Executive Producer
This Above All
Producer
The Black Swan
Executive Producer
The Pied Piper
Executive Producer
Moontide
Executive Producer
Know For Sure
Producer
Western Union
Executive Producer
Tobacco Road
Producer
That Night in Rio
Producer
Blood and Sand
Producer
Wild Geese Calling
Executive Producer
Man Hunt
Executive Producer
Moon Over Miami
Executive Producer
A Yank in the R.A.F.
Story, Producer
Week-End in Havana
Executive Producer
Sun Valley Serenade
Executive Producer
Tall, Dark and Handsome
Executive Producer
The Grapes of Wrath
Producer
The Blue Bird
Producer
Brigham Young
Producer
Hudson's Bay
Producer
Little Old New York
Producer
Maryland
Producer
Star Dust
Producer
The Man I Married
Producer
Four Sons
Producer
The Great Profile
Producer
Down Argentine Way
Producer
Public Deb No. 1
Producer
Chad Hanna
Producer
The Mark of Zorro
Executive Producer
Lillian Russell
Producer
Young Mr. Lincoln
Producer
Here I Am a Stranger
Producer
Hollywood Cavalcade
Producer
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Executive Producer
Jesse James
Producer
Tail Spin
Producer
Second Fiddle
Executive Producer
Susannah of the Mounties
Executive Producer
Too Busy to Work
Producer
Hotel for Women
Producer
Swanee River
Producer
The Rains Came
Producer
The Gorilla
Executive In Charge Of Production
Submarine Patrol
Producer
Always Goodbye
Producer
I'll Give a Million
Producer
In Old Chicago
Producer
Sally, Irene and Mary
Executive Producer
Happy Landing
Producer
Kentucky Moonshine
Producer
Gateway
Producer
Josette
Executive Producer
My Lucky Star
Producer
Kentucky
Executive Producer
Three Blind Mice
Producer
Little Miss Broadway
Producer
Suez
Producer
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Executive In Charge Of Production
Heidi
Producer
On the Avenue
Producer
Seventh Heaven
Producer
Slave Ship
Producer
Wee Willie Winkie
Producer
Angel's Holiday
Producer
Lancer Spy
Executive Producer
Wake Up and Live
Producer
Thin Ice
Producer
This Is My Affair
Production Manager
Love Is News
Executive In Charge Of Production
Love and Hisses
Producer
Private Number
Production Manager
It Had to Happen
Producer
The Country Beyond
Producer
A Message to Garcia
Producer
Under Two Flags
Producer
Half Angel
Producer
The Road to Glory
Producer
Sing, Baby, Sing
Producer
Pigskin Parade
Producer
White Fang
Producer
To Mary - with Love
Producer
Ramona
Executive Producer
Reunion
Executive Producer
White Hunter
Producer
Banjo on My Knee
Executive Producer
Ladies in Love
Executive In Charge Of Production
Lloyd's of London
Production Manager
'G' Men
Novel
Clive of India
Producer
Show Them No Mercy!
Producer
Metropolitan
Producer
Cardinal Richelieu
Producer
Les Misérables
Producer
Call of the Wild
Producer
Thanks a Million
Producer
Professional Soldier
Producer
The Littlest Rebel
Production Manager
Moulin Rouge
Producer
The Last Gentleman
Producer
Looking for Trouble
Producer
The Mighty Barnum
Producer
Born to Be Bad
Producer
Blood Money
Producer
The Bowery
Producer
Parachute Jumper
Producer
The Working Man
Producer
Ex-Lady
Producer
Gallant Lady
Producer
42nd Street
Producer
Doctor X
Executive Producer
Three on a Match
Producer
The Dark Horse
Producer, Story
Life Begins
Executive Producer
The Public Enemy
Producer
Little Caesar
Producer, Additional Writing
Illicit
Producer
Blonde Crazy
Executive Producer
Three Faces East
Producer
The Doorway to Hell
Executive Producer
The Show of Shows
Producer
On With the Show!
Producer
Disraeli
Producer
Noah's Ark
Story, Associate Producer
Tenderloin
Story, Producer
Lights of New York
Production Supervisor
The Singing Fool
Producer
My Man
Story
The Terror
Producer
The Missing Link
Scenario Writer
The First Auto
Producer, Story
Old San Francisco
Writer, Producer
The Desired Woman
Associate Producer, Story
Wolf's Clothing
Screenplay
The Little Irish Girl
Adaptation
So This Is Paris
Producer
The Better 'Ole
Screenplay
Across the Pacific
Adaptation
The Cave Man
Writer
Oh! What a Nurse!
Scenario Writer
Eve's Lover
Scenario Writer, Producer
On Thin Ice
Scenario Writer
Three Weeks in Paris
Scenario Writer
Sherlock's Home
Scenario Writer