Thalberg, Irving (Grant) (1899-1936)

US film-production executive. At the age of 21 he was head of production at Universal Pictures, and in 1924 he became production supervisor of the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He was responsible for such prestige films as Ben Hur (1926) and Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). With Louis B Mayer, he built up MGM into one of the biggest Hollywood studios of the 1930s.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Thalberg was hired in 1918 as assistant to Carl Laemmle, president of Universal Pictures Corporation in New York. Having moved to Hollywood in 1919, Thalberg, ‘the boy genius,’ was named head of the studio in 1923, leaving to become vice-president in charge of production for MGM the following year. Throughout the rest of his brief career, he displayed an uncanny eye for talent and a consummate skill in business matters. Among his most memorable productions were Grand Hotel (1932) and A Night at the Opera (1935). He was married to Canadian-born US actor Norma Shearer.