Arthur Freed | |
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.jpg) Freed receiving the Screen Producers Guild's Milestone Award, 1964 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Arthur Grossman (1894-09-09)September 9, 1894 Charleston, South Carolina, United States |
| Died | April 12, 1973(1973-04-12) (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Lyricist, film producer |
Arthur Freed (néeGrossman; September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973)[1] was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer. He won theAcademy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 forAn American in Paris and in 1958 forGigi. Both films were musicals, and both were directed byVincente Minnelli. In addition, he produced the filmSingin' in the Rain, the soundtrack for which primarily consisted of songs he co-wrote earlier in his career. In the decades following his death, Freed has become the subject of severalsexual harassment allegations, most notably from actressShirley Temple and actress and dancerBarrie Chase.
Freed was born to a Jewish family inCharleston, South Carolina,[2][3] and wrote poetry as a high schooler atPhillips Exeter Academy.[4] After graduating in 1914, he began his career as asong-plugger and pianist in Chicago. After meetingMinnie Marx, he sang as part of her sons' act, theMarx Brothers, on thevaudeville circuit and also wrote material for them.
He soon began to write songs, and he was hired byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[1] For years, he wrote lyrics for numerous films, many set to music byNacio Herb Brown.[1]
In 1939, after working (uncredited) in the role of associate producer[5] onThe Wizard of Oz, he was promoted to being the head of his own unit within MGM, and helped elevate the studio to the leading creator of film musicals. His first solo credit as producer was the film version ofRodgers and Hart's smash Broadway musicalBabes in Arms (also 1939),[1] released only a few months afterThe Wizard of Oz. It starredMickey Rooney andJudy Garland, and it was so successful that it ushered in a long series of "let's put on a show" "backyard" musicals, all starring Rooney and Garland.
Freed brought talent from the Broadway theaters to theMGM soundstages includingVincente Minnelli,Betty Comden,Adolph Green,Roger Edens,Kay Thompson,Zero Mostel,June Allyson,Nancy Walker,Charles Walters, orchestratorsConrad Salinger,Johnny Green,Lennie Hayton, and others includingShirley Temple.
He also helped shape the careers of stars includingGene Kelly,Frank Sinatra,Red Skelton,Lena Horne,Jane Powell,Esther Williams,Kathryn Grayson,Howard Keel,Cyd Charisse,Ann Miller,Vera-Ellen, and others. He broughtFred Astaire to MGM after Astaire's tenure atRKO and coaxed him out of semi-retirement to star with Garland inEaster Parade. His team of writers, directors, composers and stars produced a steady stream of popular, critically acclaimed musicals until the late 1950s.
He allowed his directors and choreographers free rein, something unheard of in those days of committee-produced film musicals, and is credited for furthering the boundaries of film musicals by allowing such moments in films as the fifteen-minute ballet at the end ofAn American in Paris (1951), after which the film concludes moments later with no more dialogue or songs, and he allowed the musical team ofLerner and Loewe complete control in their writing ofGigi (1958).
According to Hugh Fordin's bookThe World of Entertainment, Freed did have a hand in the stage-to-screen adaptation ofthe 1951 Technicolor remake of Kern and Hammerstein's stage classic,Show Boat. It was Freed who disagreed with the original structure of the show's second act, in which more than 20 years pass between most of the act and the final three scenes of the musical. He felt that it made for a lack of drama in the story, and with screenwriterJohn Lee Mahin, Freed hit upon the idea of having the gambler Gaylord Ravenal leave his wife Magnolia while both are still young and Magnolia is expecting a baby, and then having Julie, the half-black actress who is forced to leave the boat because of her mixed-race background, be the person who brings Ravenal and Magnolia back together again after a separation of only a few years rather than twenty. Also, Freed castAva Gardner in the role of Julie.[6]
Two of his films won theAcademy Award for Best Picture:An American in Paris andGigi.[1] On the night thatAn American in Paris won Best Picture, Freed received an Honorary Oscar, and his version ofShow Boat was up for two Oscars that year. The year 1951, in which Freed won theAcademy Award for Best Picture forParis, was the first year that theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated producers by name rather than by studio. He was the only person nominated forAn American in Paris, thus being the first person in the history of the award to win by name rather than by studio.Singin' in the Rain (1952), now his most highly regarded film, won no Oscars. He was inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.
Freed left MGM in 1961.[1] He served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences until leaving in 1966.[7][8]
Freed died of a heart attack on April 3, 1973.[9]
Shirley Temple wrote in her 1988 autobiography when she was 12, she was interviewed by Freed, who was age 46, about transferring her career to MGM. She wrote that during the interview, Freed unzipped his trousers and exposed himself to her.[10] According toThe New York Times' obituary of Temple, "Being innocent of male anatomy, she responded by giggling, and he threw her out of his office".[11] She also related this account during a October 25, 1988 interview onLarry King Live, further stating thatLouis B. Mayer sexually propositioned her mother in an adjacent room during this incident. Temple stated these were the reasons she left MGM after only one film and returned to Fox.[12]
In 2017, actress and dancerBarrie Chase also recounted being the subject of inappropriate conduct by Freed during the mid-1950s.[13]
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| Non-profit organization positions | ||
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| Preceded by | President of Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences 1963–1967 | Succeeded by |
