Nicholas Nayfack (January 27, 1909 – March 31, 1958) was an American movie producer whose notable works include ''

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction action film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on a film story by ...

'' and '' The Invisible Boy''. He was the nephew of

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

studio chief

Nicholas Schenck Nicholas M. Schenck (14 November 1880, Rybinsk, Russian Empire, Russia – 4 March 1969, Florida) was a Russian-American Studio executive, film studio executive and businessman. Biography Early life One of seven children, Schenck was born t ...

and

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

studio boss Joseph M. Schenck.

Early life

Nayfack was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

to Saul and Annie Nayfack. Annie was the sister of film producers Nicholas and Joesph Schenck. Nayfack had two brothers, Bertram and Jules. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

Career

Nayfack entered the film industry as a lawyer in 1934 and was working at

Fox Film The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American independent company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox. It was the corporate successor to his earlier Greater Ne ...

when it merged with 20th Century Pictures, headed by his uncle Joseph, in 1935. He left to join MGM in 1936, where his uncle Nicholas was president of the parent company, Loew's Inc. Nayfack worked for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

as an associate producer under

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (; September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. Best known as a co-founder of 20th Century Fox, he played a ...

from 1937 to 1939. After leaving Fox, he became the head of the business affairs office for MGM. He joined the Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was a lieutenant commander in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. After the war he became a producer for MGM with his first picture ''

Border Incident ''Border Incident'' is a 1949 American film noir featuring Ricardo Montalbán, George Murphy, and Howard Da Silva. Directed by Anthony Mann, the MGM production was written by John C. Higgins from a story by John C. Higgins and George Zuckerman. ...

'' (1949). He formed his own company, Pan Productions with a distribution and financing deal with MGM who released his last film, '' The Invisible Boy'' (1957).

Personal life

He married actress

Lynne Carver Lynne Carver (born Virginia Reid Sampson, September 13, 1916 – August 12, 1955) was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 40 films between 1934 and 1953. Early years Carver was born in Lexington, Kentucky. Her father, Reid Johns ...

in 1937 and they divorced in 1942. He later married Patricia Schmidt with who he had a son, Nicholas Jr. Nayfack died of a heart attack, aged 49, on March 31, 1958, at his Beverly Hills home.

Filmography

*''

'' (1949) *'' Devil's Doorway'' (1950) *'' Vengeance Valley'' (1951) *'' No Questions Asked'' (1951) *'' The Sellout'' (1952) *'' Glory Alley'' (1952) *''

Escape from Fort Bravo ''Escape from Fort Bravo'' is a 1953 American Anscocolor Western film set during the American Civil War. Directed by John Sturges it stars William Holden, Eleanor Parker, and John Forsythe. Plot Fort Bravo is a Union prison camp with a strict ...

'' (1953) *'' Rogue Cop'' (1954) *'' The Scarlet Coat'' (1955) *'' Ransom!'' (1956) *''

'' (1956) *'' The Power and the Prize'' (1956) *'' Gun Glory'' (1957) *'' The Invisible Boy'' (1957)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nayfack, Nicholas Film producers from New York (state) 1909 births 1958 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from New York City