Irving Thalberg – 1899-1936

Sickly and frail, Thalberg worked with the brilliance and intensity of someone who knew he would die young. By the time he was 21, Thalberg was manager of Universal Pictures. Four years later, when MGM was formed, he was head of production and had authority to reedit any film. His management made MGM the most prestigious studio in the world, with such films as Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), the Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937), and Camille (1937).