Irving Thalberg - by Mark A Vieira (Hardcover)

About the Book

Hollywood in the 1920s sparkled with talent, confidence, and opportunity. Enter Irving Thalberg of Brooklyn, who was running Universal Pictures at age 20; co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at 24; and created the classics "Ben-Hur, Tarzan the Ape Man, Mutiny on the Bounty," and "The Good Earth" before he dying tragically at 37.

Book Synopsis

Hollywood in the 1920s sparkled with talent, confidence, and opportunity. Enter Irving Thalberg of Brooklyn, who survived childhood illness to run Universal Pictures at twenty; co-found Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at twenty-four; and make stars of Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Jean Harlow. Known as Hollywood's "Boy Wonder," Thalberg created classics such as Ben-Hur, Tarzan the Ape Man, Grand Hotel, Freaks, Mutiny on the Bounty, and The Good Earth, but died tragically at thirty-seven. His place in the pantheon should have been assured, yet his films were not reissued for thirty years, spurring critics to question his legend and diminish his achievements. In this definitive biography, illustrated with rare photographs, Mark A. Vieira sets the record straight, using unpublished production files, financial records, and correspondence to confirm the genius of Thalberg's methods. In addition, this is the first Thalberg biography to utilize both his recorded conversations and the unpublished memoirs of his wife, Norma Shearer. Irving Thalberg is a compelling narrative of power and idealism, revealing for the first time the human being behind the legend.

From the Back Cover

"I thought I knew the story of Irving Thalberg, Hollywood's fabled boy wonder, but I learned a lot from this well-written, diligently researched book. Mark Vieira immerses us in Thalberg's life and career and sheds new light on the workings of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the peak of its powers. This is an altogether remarkable piece of work. "--Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian

"Mark A. Vieira's book is exceptionally well researched and makes a tremendous contribution to our understanding of an extraordinary era."--Kevin Brownlow, film historian and filmmaker

"Being the son of David O. Selznick and the grandson of Louis B. Mayer, I have read many books about Irving Thalberg, but none has brought this elusive figure to life as does Mark A. Vieira's. Because he had access to Norma Shearer's memoir notes and because he painstakingly reconstructed each year of Thalberg's brief life, a new figure emerges. Where before we saw a gentle and sensitive man who devoted great care to his films, we now see fierce concentration, arrogance, impatience with stupidity, and a compulsion to oversee every detail of every MGM film. Whatever it cost--and it cost him his health--it resulted in a body of work unprecedented in the history of the medium. I found Irving Thalberg compelling reading and masterly in its ability to keep me reading chapter after astonishing chapter."--Daniel Mayer Selznick, film historian and filmmaker

Review Quotes

"Among the many virtues of Mark Vieira's biography is the use he makes of the story conferences preserved in the MGM archives."-- "The Economist" (11/12/2009 12:00:00 AM)

"This is a sympathetic, diligent, and intelligent account of a wondrous era in Hollywood."-- "Jewish Book World" (9/1/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"Vieira's excellent biography reveals a master player...[and] sheds much needed light upon significant, influential life."-- "Magill's Literary Annual / Salem Press" (2/4/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"A fast-paced and well-researched new biography of Thalberg."--Kent Jones "Film Comment" (4/1/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"A well-researched and readable biography."--David Yezzi "Wall Street Journal" (11/10/2009 12:00:00 AM)

"An engaging new biography . . . an unusually animated and revealing tour of Hollywood in the 1920s and '30s."--Noah Isenberg "Bookforum" (12/1/2009 12:00:00 AM)

"An important book on a pivotal figure in Hollywood history. . . . Vieira's biography is an invaluable resource."--Camille McCutcheon, University of South Carolina Upstate "Jrnl Of American Culture" (12/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"If you want to know about Hollywood's Golden Age, then you must know about Thalberg. And if you want to know about Thalberg, then you must read this book."--Anthony McKenna "Screening The Past" (6/16/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"The jury has been out for 70 years on the MGM studio chief, even though F Scott Fitzgerald immortalised him as the "last tycoon". Was Thalberg art's gift to Hollywood, with his well-bred epics (Romeo and Juliet, Marie Antoinette)? Or was he a mogul playing to the middlebrow? Read this impressively researched study and decide."--Nigel Andrews "Financial Times" (6/26/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"The third biography of Thalberg, and far and away the most thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and penetrating . . . as close to definitive as any biography of Irving Thalberg is likely to get."--Joseph Epstein "The Weekly Standard" (1/18/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"This is a worthy, well-documented account of [Thalberg's] life."--R. D. Sears "Choice" (7/1/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"Vieira has accomplished something quite extraordinary. . . . This is the definitive volume about a towering figure in the history of Hollywood."--Leonard Maltin "Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy" (12/2/2009 12:00:00 AM)

"Vieira has put the enigmatic producer back in the spotlight with his biography . . . a thorough and readable book."--Matthew Rovner "Forward" (2/26/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"Vieira has written the definitive biography of Thalberg." STARRED REVIEW--Teri Shiel "Library Journal" (10/15/2009 12:00:00 AM)

"Vieira takes students of movie history deep into the bowels of MGM."--Robert Fulford "The National Post" (1/11/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"Vieira writes with great verve and enthusiasm, and he has a flair for narrative movement that suits these exponents of the new storytelling . . . well written and extensively researched."--David Thomson "New Republic" (3/25/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"Vieira's work is both exhaustively researched and beautifully presented, rich in detail yet compulsively readable. If you want to know about Hollywood's Golden Age, then you must know about Thalberg. And if you want to know about Thalberg, then you must read this book."--Anthony McKenna "Screening The Past" (6/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Mark A. Vieira is a photographer, filmmaker, and Hollywood historian. His previous books include Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits and Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy.