Norman Taurog

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Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899-April 7, 1981) was an American film producer and screenwriter.

Taurog produced 180 films from 1920 to 1968.

He received the Academy Award for Best Director for Skippy (1931), at the age of 32.

After Damien Chazelle, who won for La La Land in 2017, he is the second youngest person to win the award.

He was later nominated for Best Director of the film Boys Town (1938).

He produced some of the twentieth century's finest actors, including nephew Jackie Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Fred Astaire, Douglas Kerr, Peter Lawford, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley.

Taurog produced six Martin and Lewis films as well as nine Elvis Presley films, more than any other producer.

Norman Taurog is a celebrity on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, thanks to his contributions to the motion picture industry.

Early life

Norman Taurog was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 23, 1899, to Jewish parents Arthur Jack Taurog and Anita (originally "Annie") Taurog (née Goldsmith). Arthur was born in the Russian Empire in 1872 or 1873 and naturalized as a child, according to his father's naturalization documents, although his mother was from New York. Arthur's parents were from Germany, according to later census results, while Anita's were from England. In 1896, the couple were married in Chicago.

Norman made his film debut at the age of 13 in the short film Tangled Relations, directed by Thomas Ince's studios at an early age. He spent most of his eight years in theater before his next film appearance, mainly off-Broadway.

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Film career

Taurog returned to film in 1919 as a director, filming with Larry Semon in The Sportsman (1920). He made 42 silent films in the last decade, most shorts. He developed his style during this period, his forte being light comedy, but he could also deal with drama and maintain complex narratives. George Jessel appeared in his first feature-length film, The Ghetto, which was released in late 1928 with musical and dialogue sections directed by Charles C. Wilson for eventual release as Lucky Boy (1929).

He made his breakthrough in 1931 by directing Skippy, for which he received an Academy Award for Best Director. At auction in Beverly Hills, Taurog's award statue sold for $301,973. Jackie Cooper of Taurog was also nominated for his role; Cooper wrote that Taurog allegedly shot his dog during filming to make him cry for one scene. (As this book was being published, Cooper's editor tried to get Taurog's version of events; Taurog refused to participate.) As they attempt to get a license for Sooky's dog, save his shantytown from demolition, sell lemonade, and save for a new bike, Skippy chronicles the adventures of his eponymous hero, his antics, and adventures with his buddy Sooky. Based on a common comic strip character, its message, comedic, and moral didacticism (common to movies of the time), contributed to a soaring success, so much so that the studio immediately planned a sequel, Sooky, for the upcoming year.

Taurog's career was in its third chapter, as an established director with the ability to work in a variety of genres. He directed a number of well-received films, including If I Had a Million (1932), which demonstrated his ability to work with an all-star cast, including Gary Cooper, George Raft, Charles Laughton, and W. C. Fields. He directed We're Not Dressing, starring Bing Crosby, Carole Lombard, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Ray Milland in 1934. He directed the star-studded musical revue The Big Broadcast of 1936 starring Bing Crosby and George Burns and Gracie Allen.

Taurog's 1938 debut brought his talent and experience to bear on one of the most modern and profitable adaptations of classic literature; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was an artistic and commercial triumph. Boys Town debuted earlier this year, proving Taurog to be more than able to sustain a dramatic story and earning him another Academy Award nomination. But it wasn't all success. Myrna Loy and Robert Taylor, a turkey, were starring in Lucky Night (1939), and although Taurog shot test scenes for 1939's cinematic extravaganza The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming was chosen to direct. Taurog was sent by his brother to work on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a change in which he had little to no participation. Despite losing out on directing Oz, Taurog went on to receive a Best Director award for Boys Town later this year. He did, however, direct the last of MGM's big pre-war musical revues, 1940's Broadway Melody, starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell. He widened his range into biographies, joining Mickey Rooney in the well-received Young Tom Edison (1940). Judy Garland appeared in Little Nellie Kelly (1940), the 'good-girl-gets-a-break' (1943), and the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy (1943).

Taurog introduced a new territory with a docudrama of the atom bomb, The Beginning or the End (1947), after directing re-takes for a wartime propaganda film, Rationing (1944). For his next two outings, The Bride Goes Wild stars Van Johnson and June Allyson, and Big City, 1948, it was back to his metier of light comedy. Interestingly, he produced a third film that year, combining comedy, drama, and biography with an all-star cast; Words and Music was a fictionalized biopic of Richard Rodgers' friendship with Lorenz Hart. Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Mickey Rooney, and Cyd Charisse were among others on the show. Taurog had a reputation as a director who was at ease in directing musical and comedy, and he could be relied upon to produce little detail, which would be helpful later in his career.

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis had been a double-act since 1946 and had produced five films together, three Martin and Lewis top-liners, before Taurog directed Jumping Jacks (1952), which some Martin and Lewis fans have praised as the best of their films ever. Taurog enjoyed living with the couple and went on to direct them in The Stooge (1954), You're Never Too Young (1954), and Pardners (1956). In Don't Give Up the Ship (1959) and Visit to a Small Planet (1960), Taurog worked alone twice more.

G.I. Taurog's first Elvis Presley film was directed in 1960 by Taurog. The blues are in the middle of the season. Elvis was at a turning point for him. He had hoped to be a James Dean figure by then, and he had aspired to be a James Dean figure in Loving You (1957), Jailhouse Rock (1958), and King Creole (1958). Colonel Tom Parker, on the other hand, had different hopes for the singer. G.I. Following Elvis' return from the army, the film Blues set the tone for future films — a few girls, a few adventures, and a few songs along the way, with poor plots and uninspired acting. Taurog, who is now in his sixties, was an old hand at it when it was well-made. Parker was so impressed with his work over the next eight years that Taurog produced Elvis in eight more films: Blue Hawaii (1961), Girls!

Girls!

Girls!

(1962), It Happened at the World's Fair (1963), Tickle Me (1965), Spin out (1968), Live a Little (1968). Although some of the films were more effective than others—and some were nearly identical—Taurog ensured that the films had a pact, the dialogue was good, the songs were well executed, and the songs were well executed. Love a Little was his last film, and it was a little bit of both.

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Awards and nominations

• 1931 Academy Award for Best Director (Skippy)
• 1938 Venice Film Festival Mussolini Cup for Best Film (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
• 1939 Academy Award Nomination for Best Director (Boys Town)
• 1960 Star on the Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures, dedicated on February 8, 1960, at 1600 Vine Street
• 1966 Laurel Award Nomination for Director, fourth place
• 1967 Laurel Award Nomination for Director, fifth place
• 1968 Laurel Award Nomination for Director, eighth place