Robert Zigler Leonard (October 7, 1889 - August 27, 1968) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
, actor, producer and screenwriter.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois. At one time, he was married to silent superstar
Mae MurrayMae Murray was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen"....
with the two forming
Tiffany PicturesTiffany Pictures was a Hollywood motion picture studio in operation from 1921 until 1932....
to film eight motion pictures that were released by MGM.
He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for
The DivorceeThe Divorcee is a 1930 American drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan and Zelda Sears, and based on the novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director....
and
The Great ZiegfeldThe Great Ziegfeld is a musical film produced by MGM. Although the film is a fictionalized biography of Florenz Ziegfeld from his show business beginnings to his death, it showcases a series of spectacular musical productions. The film includes original music by Walter Donaldson and Irving Berlin...
.
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Robert Zigler Leonard (October 7, 1889 - August 27, 1968) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
, actor, producer and screenwriter.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois. At one time, he was married to silent superstar
Mae MurrayMae Murray was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen"....
with the two forming
Tiffany PicturesTiffany Pictures was a Hollywood motion picture studio in operation from 1921 until 1932....
to film eight motion pictures that were released by MGM.
He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for
The DivorceeThe Divorcee is a 1930 American drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan and Zelda Sears, and based on the novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director....
and
The Great ZiegfeldThe Great Ziegfeld is a musical film produced by MGM. Although the film is a fictionalized biography of Florenz Ziegfeld from his show business beginnings to his death, it showcases a series of spectacular musical productions. The film includes original music by Walter Donaldson and Irving Berlin...
. Both were also nominated for Best Picture, and the latter won. One of the most odd credits in his filmography is the
film noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
thriller
The BribeThe Bribe is a American crime film noir directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Marguerite Roberts, based on a story written by Frederick Nebel...
1949 with its sleazy settings, slippery characters and steamy atmosphere.
Robert Leonard died in 1968 in
Beverly Hills, CaliforniaBeverly Hills is a city in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. The area's "Platinum Triangle" of wealthy neighborhoods is formed by Beverly Hills and...
and was interred in
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, GlendaleForest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately-owned cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles, in the United States. It is the original location of Forest Lawn, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California...
.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Robert Leonard has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment museum...
at 6368 Hollywood Blvd.
Selected filmography
- The Sea Urchin
The Sea Urchin is a 1913 silent drama film directed by Edwin August and featuring Lon Chaney, Sr. The film is now considered to be lost. -Cast:* Jeanie Macpherson - The Girl* Lon Chaney, Sr. - Barnacle Bill* Robert Z. Leonard - The Stranger...
(1913)
- Shon the Piper
Shon the Piper is a 1913 silent drama film directed by Otis Turner and featuring Lon Chaney, Sr. The film is now considered to be lost. -Cast:* Robert Z. Leonard - Shon the Piper* Joseph Singleton - The Laird of the Isle* John Burton - Tam IcIvor...
(1913)
- The Master Key
The Master Key is a 1914 film serial directed by Robert Z. Leonard.-Cast:* Robert Z. Leonard - John Dore* Ella Hall - Ruth Gallon* Harry Carter - Harry Wilkerson* Jean Hathaway - Jean Darnell* Alfred Hickman - Charles Everett...
(1914)
- Judge Not; or The Woman of Mona Diggings
Judge Not; or The Woman of Mona Diggings is a 1915 drama film featuring Harry Carey.-Cast:* Julia Dean - Molly Hanlon* Harry Carter - Lee Kirk* Harry Carey - Miles Rand* Marc Robbins - Judge Rand* Kingsley Benedict - Clarence Van Dyne...
(1915)
- Secret Love
-Cast:* Jack Curtis - Don Lowrie* Helen Ware - Joan Lowrie* Dixie Carr - Liz * Harry Carey - Fergus Derrick* Harry Carter - Ralph Lonsdale* Marc Robbins - The Rector* Harry Southard - Paul Grace* Warren Ellsworth - Mine Foreman...
(1916)
- Danger, Go Slow
Danger, Go Slow is a 1918 comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It is now considered to be lost. -Cast:* Mae Murray - Mugsy Mulane* Jack Mulhall - Jimmy, the Eel* Lon Chaney - Bud* Lydia Knott - Aunt Sarah* Joseph W...
(1918)
- Bright Lights
Bright Lights is a 1925 comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The film stars Charles Ray, who achieved stardom by playing ingenious country boys...
(1925)
- A Little Journey
A Little Journey is a 1927 comedy film featuring Harry Carey. No prints are thought to survive of this film. It is therefore considered lost.-Plot:A girl travelling by train to meet her boyfriend meets another young man and falls in love with him....
(1927)
- The Cardboard Lover (1928)
- Marianne
Marianne is a 1929 romantic drama about a French farm girl who, despite already having a French fiancé, falls in love with an American soldier during World War I. It was made first as a silent film, then as a musical with a different cast, though Marion Davies starred in both versions...
(1929) both silent and musical versions
- The Divorcee
The Divorcee is a 1930 American drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan and Zelda Sears, and based on the novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director....
(1930)
- Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)
Susan Lenox is a 1931 film made by MGM. It was directed and produced by Robert Z. Leonard from a screenplay by Leon Gordon, Zelda Sears and Edith Fitzgerald adapted by Wanda Tuchock from the novel by David Graham Phillips. The music was by William Axt, the cinematography by William H...
(1931)
- Dancing Lady
Dancing Lady is a 1933 musical motion picture starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone. In the film, Crawford plays Janie Barlow, a young New York burlesque dancer rescued from jail by a rich man. Janie later decides to better her life by moving uptown and gets her first big...
(1933)
- After Office Hours
After Office Hours is a 1935 film starring Clark Gable and Constance Bennett and directed by Robert Z. Leonard.-Plot:Jim Branch , news editor, falls for Sharon Norwood while trying to uncover a murder mystery.-Cast:...
(1935)
- Piccadilly Jim
Piccadilly Jim is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the U.S. on February 24 1917 by Dodd, Mean and Co., New York, and in the U.K. in May 1918 by Herbert Jenkins, London. The story had previously appeared in the U.S...
(1936)
- The Great Ziegfeld
The Great Ziegfeld is a musical film produced by MGM. Although the film is a fictionalized biography of Florenz Ziegfeld from his show business beginnings to his death, it showcases a series of spectacular musical productions. The film includes original music by Walter Donaldson and Irving Berlin...
(1936)
- Maytime (1937)
- The Girl of the Golden West
The Girl of the Golden West is a 1938 musical western film. It was adapted from the play of the same name by David Belasco, better known for providing the plot of the opera La fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini...
(1938)
- New Moon (1940)
- Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a 1940 film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel of the same name. Robert Z. Leonard directed, and Aldous Huxley served as one of the screenwriters of the film. -Plot:Mrs...
(1940)
- Ziegfeld Girl
Ziegfeld Girl is a 1941 American film starring James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner, and co-starring Tony Martin, Jackie Cooper, Eve Arden, and Philip Dorn. Released by MGM, it was directed by Robert Z...
(1941)
- Week-End at the Waldorf
Week-End at the Waldorf is a 1945 American comedy-satire film.A romantic, light satire version of the classic Grand Hotel, it focuses on various guests staying at New York City's famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel but without the social context...
(1945)
- B.F.'s Daughter
B.F.'s Daughter is a 1948 drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin. It is adapted from John P. Marquand's controversial 1946 novel of the same name, but the movie script soft-pedals the controversial elements and is a fairly conventional love story.-Plot...
(1948)
- In the Good Old Summertime
In the Good Old Summertime is a 1949 musical film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It starred Judy Garland, Van Johnson and S.Z. Sakall.The film is a musical adaptation of the 1940 film, The Shop Around the Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, and...
(1949)
- Duchess of Idaho
Duchess of Idaho is a musical romantic comedy produced in 1950 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, it was one of a series of films starring swimmer Esther Williams.-Plot summary:...
(1950)
- The Bribe
The Bribe is a American crime film noir directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Marguerite Roberts, based on a story written by Frederick Nebel...
(1949)
- Her Twelve Men
Her Twelve Men is a comedy drama film made by MGM. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, and written by William Roberts and Laura Z. Hobson, based on story by Louise Baker.-Cast:*Greer Garson as Jan Stewart*Robert Ryan as Joe Hargrave...
(1954)
- Kelly and Me (1957)
External links
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