Sol C. Siegel
Siegel in 1958
Born	(1903-03-30)March 30, 1903 Kalvarija, Russian Empire
Died	December 29, 1982(1982-12-29) (aged 79) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Education	Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Occupation	Film producer
Years active	1934–1968
Spouses	Ruth E. Shor ​ ​ (m. 1932; died 1962)​ Helen J. Waite ​ (m. 1972)​
Children	3

Sol C. Siegel (March 30, 1903 – December 29, 1982) was an American film producer. Two of the numerous films he produced,A Letter to Three Wives (1949) andThree Coins in the Fountain (1954), were nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Picture.

Sol C. Siegel was born on March 30, 1903, in Kalvarija, Lithuania (at the time part of theRussian Empire). In the early 1930s, Siegel wassales manager of theBrunswick-Columbia record label.^[1]In 1934, he began his Hollywood career by assisting his brother, Moe Siegel, with the merger of six small production studios intoRepublic Pictures. He stayed on at Republic as an executive producer, working withGene Autry andJohn Wayne.

Sol C.Siegel was born March 30 or 31st (local records lost during WWII) in Kalvarija, Poland, now Lithuania.

During a contract dispute between Republic Studios and Gene Autry Mr. Siegel brought in a member of a singing group called "The Sons of the Pioneers", whose name was Leonard Slye, and changed his screen name to Roy Rogers.^[2]

In October 1940, Siegel left his position as head of Republic Studios to be a producer atParamount Pictures.^[3]

In 1946, he moved to20th Century Fox.^[4]Two of the films he produced there,A Letter to Three Wives (1949) andThree Coins in the Fountain (1954), were nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Picture. He also producedThe Iron Curtain (1948) and later theMarilyn Monroe musicalGentlemen Prefer Blondes, as well as the star-studdedHigh Society forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer starringFrank Sinatra,Grace Kelly,Bing Crosby, andLouis Armstrong.

In 1956, Siegel joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.^[5] Towards the end of the year,Dore Schary was fired as head of production and Siegel was rumoured to be given his job.^[6] HoweverBen Thau got the job and Siegel remained a producer, makingLes Girls,Man on Fire,Merry Andrew, andSome Came Running.^[7]

Siegel was appointed head of studio operations at MGM for three years in April 1958.^[8] The following month he was appointed vice president in charge of production.^[9] By this stage, the studio had already greenlit a number of movies that would go on to be major successes, includingBen-Hur andNorth by Northwest.^[10] As part of the deal, MGM bought Siegel's company for over $1 million.^[11]

During Siegel's time, MGM produced the majorCinerama epicHow the West Was Won.^[4][12] He was also the subject of anextortion attempt.^[13]

The success ofBen-Hur encouraged Siegel to authorize a series of remakes at MGM such asCimarron,Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, andMutiny on the Bounty.^[14] The idea was to re-release these films every seven years, the way MGM did withGone with the Wind.^[15]

In August 1961 Siegel said his formula at MGM was "old hands plus young faces". His key producers at the studio around this time were John Houseman, Arthur Freed, Joseph Pasternak, Pandro Berman and Laurence Weingarten.^[16] The following month Siegel announced MGM was "in its strongest position in history from the standpoint of big scale product" adding "it has taken us several years to attain this momentum."^[17] Sixteen films were completed and ready for distribution, includingKing of Kings andFour Horsemen of the Apocalypse, along withBridge to the Sun,Thunder of Drums,Bachelor in Paradise andLight in the Piazza. Filming was taking place onMutiny on the Bounty,How the West Was Won,The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm,Sweet Bird of Youth,A Very Private Affair,I Thank a Fool,All Fall Down andThe Horizontal Lieutenant. Filming was about to start onBilly Rose's Jumbo,Two Weeks in Another Town, andSwordsman of Siena, and projects planned (not all of which were ultimately filmed) includedBoys' Night Out,Damon and Pythias,Seven Seas to Calais,Rififi in Tokyo,The Tartars,Period of Adjustment,The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (whichbecame a TV series),The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (eventually adapted for TV),The Prize,The Courtship of Eddie's Father, George Bradshaw'sIt's Only a Paper Moon,Over the Rainbow,Guns in the Afternoon (released asRide the High Country), Peter Matthiessen'sRaditzer, Rona Jaffe'sAway from Home,John Steinbeck'sWinter of Our Discontent,Franz Werfel'sThe Forty Days of Musa Dagh and a sequel toSeven Brides for Seven Brothers.^[17][18]

However a number of Siegel films were flops withFour Horsemen andMutiny being particularly expensive box office failures. This led to Siegel being replaced as head of production in January 1962 byRobert M. Weitman.^[19]

Siegel then began working as an independent producer.^[5] He ran his own production company from 1964 to 1967.

Siegel died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on December 29, 1982, aged 79.^[4]

He was married to Ruth (Shor) Siegel until her death in 1962; together they had three sons, Andrew, Norman, and Richard.^[4]

• The Iron Curtain (1948) - 20th Century Fox
• A Letter to Three Wives (1949) - 20th Century Fox
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) - 20th Century Fox
• Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) - 20th Century Fox
• High Society (1956) - MGM
• Man on Fire (1957) - MGM
• Les Girls (1957) - MGM
• Merry Andrew (1958) - MGM
• Some Came Running (1959) - MGM
• The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959) - MGM
• Home From the Hill (1960) - MGM
• Walk Don't Run (1966) - Columbia
• Alvarez Kelly (1966) - Columbia
• No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) - Paramount

Includes MGM profits/losses based on Eddie Mannix ledger:^[20]

• Ben Hur (1959) (November 1959) - profit of $20,409,000
• The Wreck of the Mary Deare (November 1959)
• Never So Few (December 1959) - loss of $1,155,000
• The Gazebo (December 1959) - profit of $628,000
• The Last Voyage (February 1960) - loss of $551,000
• Home from the Hill (March 1960) - loss of $122,000
• Please Don't Eat the Daisies (March 1960) - profit of $1,842,000
• Platinum High School (May 1960) - loss of $270,000
• The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (May 1960) - loss of $57,000
• The Gallant Hours
• The Subterraneans^[21] - loss of $1,311,000
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (August 1960) - loss of $99,000
• The Time Machine (August 1960)^[22] - profit of $245,000
• All the Fine Young Cannibals (September 1960) - loss of $1,108,000
• Key Witness (October 1960) - loss of $496,000
• BUtterfield 8 (November 1960) - profit of $1,857,000
• Cimarron (December 1960) - loss of $3,618,000
• The Village of the Damned (December 1960) - profit of $860,000
• Where the Boys Are (December 1960)
• Go Naked in the World (March 1961) - loss of $1,462,000
• The Green Helmet (1961) - profit of $124,000
• Atlantis, the Lost Continent (May 1961)^[23]
• Two Loves (June 1961)^[24] - loss of $1,773,000
• The Honeymoon Machine (August 1961) - profit of $122,000
• Ada (August 1961) - loss of $2,372,000
• A Thunder of Drums (September 1961) - loss of $42,000
• Bridge to the Sun (August 1961)^[25]
• King of Kings (October 1961) - profit of $1,621,000
• Bachelor in Paradise (November 1961) - lost $344,000
• Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (February 1962) - loss of $5,853,000
• Light in the Piazza (February 1962) - loss of $472,000
• Sweet Bird of Youth (March 1962)
• All Fall Down (April 1962) - loss of $1,048,000
• The Tartars (June 1962) - profit of $34,000
• Damon and Pythias (1962) - profit of $6,000
• Boys' Night Out (June 1962) - loss of $262,000
• The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (August 1962)
• Two Weeks in Another Town (August 1962) - loss of $2,969,000
• I Thank a Fool (Sept 1962) - lost $1,207,000
• Period of Adjustment (October 1962) - profit of $558,000
• Mutiny on the Bounty (November 1962) - loss at least $10 million
• How the West Was Won (November 1962)
• Billy Rose's Jumbo (December 1962) - loss of $3,956,000
• In the Cool of the Day (March 1963)
• The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963) (TV series)

• adaptation ofThe Martian Chronicles byRay Bradbury^[26]
• And Seven from America about theOlympic Games^[27]
• adaptation ofThe Alligators byMolly Kazan^[28]
• The Secret Classroom^[29]
• County Fair – drama set against backdrop ofharness racing^[30]
• Only in America play byHarry Golden^[31]
• Charlemagne^[32]
• Lady L – film postponed^[33]
• The Winter of Our Discontent based on book byJohn Steinbeck^[34]
• Inamorta by Richard Brooks^[35]
• The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich based on the book byWilliam L. Shirer^[36]

• Sol C. Siegel atIMDb

• 1903 births
• 1982 deaths
• 20th Century Studios people
• American film producers
• Film serial crew
• American film studio executives
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives
• 20th-century American businesspeople

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