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 ''A Letter to Three Wives'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them, but not saying which one. It stars Jeanne Cr ...

'' (1949) and '' Three Coins in the Fountain'' (1954), were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Early life and career

Sol C. Siegel was born on March 30, 1903, in New York City. In the early 1930s, Siegel was sales manager of the Brunswick- Columbia record label. In 1934, he began his Hollywood career by assisting his brother, Moe Siegel, with the merger of six small production studios into Republic Pictures. He stayed on at Republic as an executive producer, working with Gene Autry and John 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.

Producer

In October 1940, Siegel left his position as head of Republic Studios to be a producer at Paramount Pictures. In 1946, he moved to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. Two of the films he produced there, ''

'' (1949) and '' Three Coins in the Fountain'' (1954), were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He also produced '' The Iron Curtain'' (1948) and later the

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

musical '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', as well as the star-studded ''

High Society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...

'' for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

starring Frank Sinatra,

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong.

MGM

In 1956, Siegel joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Towards the end of the year,

Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...

was fired as head of production and Siegel was rumoured to be given his job. However

Ben Thau Benjamin Thau (15 December 1898 – 5 July 1983) was an American businessman who became vice-president of the Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a subsidiary of the Loew's theater chain. From 1928 he was in ...

got the job and Siegel remained a producer, making '' Les Girls'', '' Man on Fire'', '' Merry Andrew'', and ''

Some Came Running ''Some Came Running'' is a novel by James Jones, published in 1958. It was Jones's second published novel, following his award-winning debut '' From Here to Eternity''. It is the story of a war veteran with literary aspirations who returns in ...

''. Siegel was appointed head of studio operations at MGM for three years in April 1958. The following month he was appointed vice president in charge of production. By this stage, the studio had already greenlit a number of movies that would go on to be major successes, including '' Ben-Hur'' and ''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film, produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture ...

''. During Siegel's time, MGM produced the major

Cinerama Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporati ...

epic '' How the West Was Won''. He was also the subject of an

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

attempt. The success of ''Ben-Hur'' encouraged Siegel to authorise a series of remakes at MGM such as '' Cimarron'', ''

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand t ...

'', and ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...

''. All these films lost money for the studio. This — along with a number of other box office failures — led to him being replaced as head of production in January 1962 by Robert M. Weitman.MGM Undergoes Change of Guard: Weitmain Replaces Sol Siegel; Sullivan, Crawford to Spain Hopper, Hedda. ''Los Angeles Times'' 06 Jan 1962: A6. Siegel then began working as an independent producer. 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.

Personal life

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

Selected filmography

Unmade films

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Sol 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