- Born
- Died
- Height6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- Victor Fleming entered the film business as a stuntman in 1910, mainly
doing stunt driving - which came easy to him, as he had been a mechanic
and professional race-car driver. He became interested in working on
the other side of the camera, and eventually got a job as a cameraman
on many of the films of Douglas Fairbanks. He soon began directing, and his first
big hit was The Virginian (1929). It was the movie that turned Gary Cooper into a star
(a fact Cooper never forgot; he and Fleming remained friends for life).
Fleming's star continued to rise during the '30s, and he was
responsible for many of the films that would eventually be considered
classics, such as Red Dust (1932), Bombshell (1933), Treasure Island (1934), and the two films that
were the high marks of his career: Gone with the Wind (1939) and The Wizard of Oz (1939). Ironically
Fleming was brought in on both pictures to replace other directors and
smooth out the troubled productions, a feat he accomplished
masterfully. His career took somewhat of a downturn in the '40s, and
most of his films, with the exception of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), weren't particularly
successful. He ended his career with the troubled production Joan of Arc (1948),
which turned out to be a major critical and financial
failure.- IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com - Victor Fleming entered motion pictures as a combination driver and
stunt man at the Flying A studio in Santa Barbara, California, in 1912,
following a series of jobs that included bicycle mechanic, taxi driver,
auto mechanic (He also did a little racing on the side), chauffeur and
auto salesman. Allan Dwan took credit for hiring him after he repaired
Dwan's car, but Fleming's real conduit was his actor pal Marshall
Neilan, whom he had met as a chauffeur.
After two years with Flying A, Fleming joined Neilan at Kalem, making
the early Ham and Bud comedies, and in 1915, he joined the Douglas
Fairbanks unit at Triangle, where he worked under Dwan and John
Emerson. His first picture there was The Habit of Happiness, and he was
one of several cameramen who worked on D.W. Griffith's Intolerance in
1916. By the outbreak of World War I, Fleming was Fairbanks'
supervisory cameraman at ArtCraft Pictures. After Signal Corps service
that included serving as President Woodrow Wilson's personal cameraman
at the Versailles Peace Conference, Fleming rejoined Fairbanks at the
newly formed United Artists, where in 1919, he directed his first
picture, When the Clouds Roll By.
Later at Paramount, Fleming's first major success was Lord Jim (1925).
The following year, he brought Clara Bow to fame in Mantrap, filmed the
now-lost Spanish-American War epic The Rough Riders, and in 1927 he was
Emil Jannings' first American director with The Way of All Flesh.
Fleming's first all-sound film, The Virginian, established Gary
Cooper's laconic character.
At MGM, Fleming vaulted Clark Gable to stardom with Red Dust (1932) and
began a string of fast-paced hits with Bombshell (1933), Treasure
Island (1934), Captains Courageous (1937) and Test Pilot (1938). He
also remade a large portion of The Great Waltz (1938) after the studio
fired original director Julien Duvivier.
Fleming took over The Wizard of Oz from Richard Thorpe in October 1938,
but before he finished that picture, was asked to take over David
Selznick's troubled production of Gone With the Wind from George Cukor.
In the following decade, all but Fleming's last picture, Joan of Arc
(1948) were box office successes, particularly A Guy Named Joe with
Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne, one of MGM's top grossers for 1944. At
the time of his death in January 1949, Fleming was planning to film The
Robe, later made at 20th Century Fox in 1952.- IMDb Mini Biography By: kurjensen@earthlink.net
- SpousesLouise Irana Niedermeyer (Lucile Rosson)(September 26, 1933 - January 6, 1949) (his death, 2 children)Clara Winifred Strouse(April 7, 1909 - 1915)
- The only director to have two films listed in the top 10 of the
American Film Institute's 1998 list of the 100 greatest American films,
Gone with the Wind (1939) and The Wizard of Oz (1939). - When making Gone with the Wind (1939), he wanted Scarlett, for at least once in the film, to look like his hunting buddy Clark Gable's type of woman. So, when wearing the stunning low-cut burgundy velvet dress with rhinestones that Scarlett wears to Ashley Wilkes' birthday party in the second half of the film, to achieve the desired cleavage for Fleming, Walter Plunkett had to tape Vivien Leigh's breasts together.
- Mervyn LeRoy, producer of The Wizard of Oz (1939) and a major director in his own right, said of Fleming, "Vic was one of the best directors that ever lived. The funny thing is, nobody mentions him anymore. He was a great director and a great man".
- Did not live to see The Wizard of Oz (1939), which he directed, become a sensation on television and an all-time classic through its annual telecasts.
- He served in the Signal Corps as a cameraman during World War I.
- Don't get excited. Obstacles make a better picture.
- [To David O. Selznick after being offered a percentage of the
profits rather than a salary for directing
Gone with the Wind (1939)] Don't be a damn fool, David. This
picture is going to be one of the biggest white elephants of all time.
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