Henry King

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Henry King (1915)

Henry King (born January 24, 1886 in Christiansburg , Virginia , † June 29, 1982 in Toluca Lake , California ) was an American film director , film producer and actor who had a long and successful career as a Hollywood director.

life and career

Henry King came from a small town in Virginia and left school when he was 15. He first worked for the railroad and then acted as an actor on various theatrical stages. He came to film as early as 1913, where he worked as an actor in many now forgotten silent films. He began his career as a director in 1915 and celebrated his first major commercial success four years later with 23 1/2 Hours Leave , a comedy about soldiers on the go. In 1921 he founded the film company Inspiration Film together with the actor Richard Barthelmess . With his simple, powerful imagery, Tol'able David proved to be a great artistic and financial success and already showed many stylistic elements of King's later works: great ties to his homeland, credible, honest characters and a certain preference for historical motifs. King then directed Romola and The White Sister for Lillian Gish in Italy . The set of Florence alone, which was built for Romola , took up an area of ​​seven hectares. The critics praised the clever direction and the very good leadership. Thanks to the success, King was signed by Samuel Goldwyn , where he was responsible for the success of the screen couple Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky , whom he oversaw in Unleashed Violence and The Magic Flame , among others .

Moving to talkies was no problem for King, and over the next few decades he created some of the biggest box office hits for Fox , which later became 20th Century Fox . In addition to homely comedies with Will Rogers such as Fun Fair and Janet Gaynor in Merely Mary Ann , he was responsible for the costly films with star cast that Darryl F. Zanuck had produced about the gay nineties : In Old Chicago , Alexander's Ragtime Band , Little Old New York or Maryland . One of his best-known works is the literary film adaptation of The Song by Bernadette based on the novel by Franz Werfel . For this film, King was on the first Golden Globe ever -Verleihung in the category Best Director Award. He also directed the adventure films The Pirate and The Captain of Castile , both with Tyrone Power , the world war drama The Commander and the two Ernest Hemingway adaptations Snow on Kilimanjaro and Between Madrid and Paris . Sniper Jimmy Ringo from 1950 with Gregory Peck in the lead role is one of his underrated works. King made other commercially and artistically very successful films until the 1960s, such as All Glory on Earth , the greatest box-office success of 1955 and Tender is the Night , the film adaptation of the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald , which was distributed in 1962 .

Henry King was one of the 36 founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . He was married to the actress Gypsy Abbott (1896–1952) until her death, the couple had four children. In 1959 he married a second marriage, which lasted until his death. King died of a heart attack in 1982 at the age of 96. A star on the Walk of Fame at 6327 Hollywood Boulevard commemorates the director.

rating

Henry King is now considered the typical representative of Americana in film, the portrayal of calm, often nostalgic memories of a bygone era that placed great value on human values ​​and personal integrity. Hardly any other director has been creative and commercially successful for such a long time. His life's work extends from the pioneering days of film to the 1960s, for which he was also awarded an honorary award by the Directors Guild of America in 1957 . He was considered 20th Century Fox's most dependable and diverse contract director for three decades.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Oscar

Directors Guild of America Award

  • 1951: Nomination as best director for David and Bathsheba
  • 1952: Nomination as best director for snow on Kilimanjaro
  • 1953: Nominated for Best Director for King of the Khyber Rifles
  • 1953: Nominated for best director for The Captain of Peshwar
  • 1956: nomination for best director for carousel
  • 1957: Lifetime Achievement Award

Golden Globe Award

  • 1944: Golden Globe for Best Director for The Song of Bernadette

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME King, Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Christiansburg , Virginia , United States
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 1982
Place of death Toluca Lake , California , United States