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

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

1957

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

1955

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

1954

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

1953

Knights of the Round Table ... (Director)
All the Brothers Were Valiant ... (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)
The Unknown Man ... (Director)
It's a Big Country ... (Director)

1950

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

Her Highness and the Bellboy ... (Director)
Thrill of a Romance ... (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)
Tarzan's New York Adventure ... (Director)
Apache Trail ... (Director)
Joe Smith, American ... (Director)

1941

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

1940

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

1939

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

1938

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

1937

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

1936

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

1935

Last of the Pagans ... (Director)

1934

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

1933

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

1932

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

1931

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

1930

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

1929

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

1928

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

1927

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

1926

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

1925

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

1924

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

1923

Three O'Clock in the Morning as Clayton Webster

1921

Burn 'Em Up Barnes as Stephen Thompson