Hollywood in the 1920s sparkled with talent, confidence, and opportunity. Enter Irving Thalberg of Brooklyn, who survived childhood illness to run Universal Pictures at twenty; co-found Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at twenty-four; and make stars of Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Jean Harlow. Known as Hollywood's "Boy Wonder," Thalberg created classics such as Ben-Hur, Tarzan the Ape Man, Grand Hotel, Freaks, Mutiny on the Bounty, and The Good Earth, but died tragically at thirty-seven. His place in the pantheon should have been assured, yet his films were not reissued for thirty years, spurring critics to question his legend and diminish his achievements. In this definitive biography, illustrated with rare photographs, Mark A. Vieira sets the record straight, using unpublished production files, financial records, and correspondence to confirm the genius of Thalberg's methods. In addition, this is the first Thalberg biography to utilize both his recorded conversations and the unpublished memoirs of his wife, Norma Shearer. Irving Thalberg is a compelling narrative of power and idealism, revealing for the first time the human being behind the legend.
Mark A. Vieira was born in Oakland, California on October 28, 1950. He is a filmmaker, photographer, and writer specializing in the history of Hollywood. He makes portraits in George Hurrell's original studio in the historic Granada Buildings with Hurrell's own Verito lens. Mark celebrates his fortieth anniversary as a professional photographer in October 2009.
He has lectured at the University of Southern California, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Universal Studios, the University of California Los Angeles, the Hollywood Museum in the Max Factor Building, the Hollywood Heritage Museum, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, and the Balboa Theatre in San Francisco. He has appeared on camera in Photoplay Productions' "Garbo," TimeLine's "Complicated Women," Playboy's "Sex at 24 Frames per Second," Twentieth Century-Fox Home Video featurettes on Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, Warner Home Video's "Thou Shalt Not," Universal's "Forbidden Film," and on CBS Sunday Morning.
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