Richard Thorpe

Born: 1896-02-24 in Hutchinson, Kansas, USA

Died: 1991-05-01

Known For: Directing

Biography

Richard Thorpe (February 24, 1896 - May 1, 1991) was an American film director. Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, he began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and onstage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more than one hundred and eighty films. The first full length motion picture he directed for MGM was Last of the Pagans (1935) starring Ray Mala. After directing The Last Challenge in 1967, he retired from the film industry. He died in Palm Springs, California in 1991. Thorpe is also known as the original director of The Wizard of Oz. He was fired after two weeks of shooting, because it was felt that his scenes did not have the right air of fantasy about them. Thorpe notoriously gave Judy Garland a blonde wig and cutesy "baby-doll" makeup that made her look like a girl in her late teens rather than an innocent Kansas farm girl of about thirteen. Both makeup and wig were discarded at the suggestion of George Cukor, who was brought in temporarily. Stills from Thorpe's work on the film survive today. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Thorpe has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Blvd. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Filmography

1963

Fun in Acapulco ... (Director)
Follow the Boys ... (Director)

1962

How the West Was Won ... (Special Guest Director)
The Horizontal Lieutenant ... (Director)

1961

The Tartars ... (Director)
The Honeymoon Machine ... (Director)

1959

Killers of Kilimanjaro ... (Director)
The House of the Seven Hawks ... (Director)

1957

Jailhouse Rock ... (Director)
Ten Thousand Bedrooms ... (Director)
Tip on a Dead Jockey ... (Director)

1955

Bedevilled ... (Director)
The Prodigal ... (Director)
Quentin Durward ... (Director)

1954

Athena ... (Director)
The Student Prince ... (Director)

1953

All the Brothers Were Valiant ... (Director)
Knights of the Round Table ... (Director)
The Girl Who Had Everything ... (Director)

1952

Ivanhoe ... (Director)
The Prisoner of Zenda ... (Director)
Carbine Williams ... (Director)

1951

Vengeance Valley ... (Director)
The Great Caruso ... (Director)
It's a Big Country ... (Director)
The Unknown Man ... (Director)

1950

Three Little Words ... (Director)
Black Hand ... (Director)

1949

Malaya ... (Director)
Big Jack ... (Director)
Challenge to Lassie ... (Director)
The Sun Comes Up ... (Director)

1948

A Date with Judy ... (Director)
On an Island with You ... (Director)

1947

Fiesta ... (Director)
This Time for Keeps ... (Director)

1945

Thrill of a Romance ... (Director)
Her Highness and the Bellboy ... (Director)
What Next, Corporal Hargrove? ... (Director)

1944

The Thin Man Goes Home ... (Director)
Two Girls and a Sailor ... (Director)

1943

Above Suspicion ... (Director)
Cry 'Havoc' ... (Director)
Three Hearts for Julia ... (Director)

1942

White Cargo ... (Director)
Apache Trail ... (Director)
Joe Smith, American ... (Director)
Tarzan's New York Adventure ... (Director)

1941

Tarzan's Secret Treasure ... (Director)
The Bad Man ... (Director)
Barnacle Bill ... (Director)

1940

The Earl of Chicago ... (Director)
Wyoming ... (Director)
20 Mule Team ... (Director)

1939

Tarzan Finds a Son! ... (Director)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ... (Director)

1938

The Crowd Roars ... (Director)
Three Loves Has Nancy ... (Director)
The Toy Wife ... (Director)
The First Hundred Years ... (Director)
Man-Proof ... (Director)
Love Is a Headache ... (Director)

1937

Night Must Fall ... (Director)
Double Wedding ... (Director)
Dangerous Number ... (Director)
Lest We Forget ... (Director)

1936

Tarzan Escapes ... (Director)
The Voice of Bugle Ann ... (Director)

1935

Last of the Pagans ... (Director)

1934

Cheating Cheaters ... (Director)
The Quitter ... (Director)
Strange Wives ... (Director)
Secret of the Chateau ... (Director)
City Park ... (Director)
Stolen Sweets ... (Director)
Green Eyes ... (Director)

1933

Forgotten ... (Director)
Notorious But Nice ... (Director)
I Have Lived ... (Director)
A Man of Sentiment ... (Director)
Rainbow Over Broadway ... (Director)
Strange People ... (Director)
Murder on the Campus ... (Director)

1932

Beauty Parlor ... (Director)
Murder at Dawn ... (Director)
The Midnight Lady ... (Director)
Escapade ... (Director)
The Secrets of Wu Sin ... (Director)
Cross-Examination ... (Director)
The King Murder ... (Director)
Thrill of Youth ... (Director)
Women Won't Tell ... (Director)
Probation ... (Director)
Slightly Married ... (Director)

1931

Forgotten Women ... (Director)
King of the Wild ... (Director)
Neck and Neck ... (Director)
The Lady from Nowhere ... (Editor)
Wild Horse ... (Director)
The Devil Plays ... (Director)
Grief Street ... (Director)
The Lawless Woman ... (Director)
The Sky Spider ... (Director)

1930

Under Montana Skies ... (Director)
The Lone Defender ... (Director)
The Dude Wrangler ... (Director)
Wings of Adventure ... (Director)
The Utah Kid ... (Director)
The Thoroughbred ... (Director)

1929

The King of the Kongo ... (Director)
Border Romance ... (Director)
The Fatal Warning ... (Director)
The Bachelor Girl ... (Director)

1928

The Flyin' Buckaroo ... (Director)
The Shady Lady ... (Story)
The Ballyhoo Buster ... (Director)
Vultures of the Sea ... (Director)
The Valley Of Hunted Men ... (Writer)
The Vanishing West ... (Director)

1927

Skedaddle Gold ... (Director)
The Soda Water Cowboy ... (Director)
Tearin' Into Trouble ... (Director)
The Ridin' Rowdy ... (Writer)
The Desert of the Lost ... (Director)
The Obligin' Buckaroo ... (Director)
The Meddlin' Stranger ... (Director)
Roarin' Broncs ... (Director)
Between Dangers ... (Director)

1926

Double Daring ... (Director)
Twisted Triggers ... (Director)
The Fighting Cheat ... (Director)
Easy Going ... (Director)
Josselyn's Wife ... (Director)
College Days ... (Director)
Ridin' Rivals ... (Director)
The Interferin' Gent ... (Director)
The Roaring Rider ... (Director)

1925

The Desert Demon ... (Director)
Red Clay ... (Scenario Writer)
Tearin' Loose ... (Writer)
On the Go ... (Writer)

1924

Thundering Romance ... (Director)
Hard-Hittin' Hamilton ... (Director)
Fast and Fearless ... (Director)
Bringin' Home the Bacon ... (Director)
Flames of Desire as Dick Langton

1923

Three O'Clock in the Morning as Clayton Webster

1921

Burn 'Em Up Barnes as Stephen Thompson