- William Goetz
William Goetz (
March 24 ,1903 –August 15 ,1969 ) was an AmericanHollywood film producer and studio executive.Born to a
Jew ish working class family inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania , Goetz was the youngest of eight children. His mother died when he was ten years old and shortly thereafter his father abandoned the family. Raised by older brothers, at the age of twenty-one he followed some of his brothers to Hollywood where he found work as a crew hand at one of the large studios. After a few years, he began doing production work and in 1930 was made an associate producer at Fox Films. That same year he married Edith Mayer (1905-1987), daughter ofMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio headLouis B. Mayer – who at first was less than enthusiastic at the idea. Nevertheless, the marriage worked and they remained together for life.In 1932, Goetz received the financial support necessary from his new father-in-law to become a minor partner with
Joseph Schenck , the former president ofUnited Artists , andDarryl F. Zanuck fromWarner Brothers to createTwentieth Century Pictures . Zanuck was named president and Goetz served as vice-president. Successful from the very beginning, their 1934 film "The House of Rothschild " was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. In 1935, they bought out the financially strapped Fox Films to create20th Century Fox .Goetz served as vice president of the new 20th Century Fox, but in 1942 he took charge of the studio temporarily when Zanuck, a
World War I veteran, joined theUnited States military effort in the Second World War. Goetz liked the top role in the company and after Zanuck returned, relationships became strained and Goetz resigned to form his own independent company with Leo Spitz, a formerlawyer who worked as a movie company advisor. Their partnership, under the name "International Pictures," ended its short-lived existence when they made a deal in July 1946 to merge with the British Rank Organization's distribution arm andUniversal Pictures . Goetz was made president and placed in charge of production for the newly merged "Universal-International" studio.Although one of the studio executives who formulated the 1947
Waldorf Statement , Goetz later softened his stand on the issue. In 1949, Goetz called upon his close friendship with MCA headLew Wasserman , one of the most powerful agents in Hollywood. They revolutionized the motion picture industry when they agreed to a deal whereby James Stewart was signed to a profit participation deal to act in a Universal film. In lieu of a salary for his performance, Stewart was guaranteed half of the film's profits, and the concept was soon negotiated for other stars who recognized the value of their own box office drawing power. Universal-International was acquired byDecca Records in late 1951, and the following year Goetz was let go by the new owners. After that, Goetz became an independent producer, making films such as 1957's "Sayonara ", which was also nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Picture.A very wealthy man, Goetz raised thoroughbred
racehorse s. His horse Your Host won the 1950Santa Anita Derby and subsequently sired Kelso, a Hall of Fame inductee and one of the greatest horses in racing history.Goetz and his wife also were major investors in art, acquiring a significant collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works. They owned paintings and sculptures by great artists such as
Edgar Degas ,Paul Gauguin ,Claude Monet ,Paul Cézanne ,Berthe Morisot ,Edouard Manet ,Pierre-Auguste Renoir ,Pablo Picasso ,Amedeo Modigliani ,Chaim Soutine ,Pierre Bonnard ,Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot , andHenri Fantin-Latour . In 1949, a controversy erupted over aVincent van Gogh self-portrait called "Study by Candlelight " that Goetz had purchased two years earlier. The painting was declared a fake by art expertWillem Sandberg and the artist's nephew, V. W. van Gogh, resulting in an international debate amongst art experts. The painting remained controversial and was not put up for auction with the rest of the Goetz collection following Mrs. Goetz's death in 1987.William Goetz died of cancer in 1969 at his home in Los Angeles and was buried in
Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery inCulver City, California .External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0324544 William Goetz at IMDB]
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