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W. S. Van Dyke

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W. S. Van Dyke
Photo of W. S. Van Dyke wearing a hat
Born
Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke II

(1889-03-21)March 21, 1889
San Diego, California, U.S.
DiedFebruary 5, 1943(1943-02-05) (aged 53)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of deathSuicide
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesOne Take Woody
Occupation(s)Film director, writer
Years active1915–42
Spouse(s)
Zina Ashford
​
​
(m. 1909; div. 1935)​

Ruth Mannix
​
(m. 1935⁠–⁠1943)​
Children3

Woodbridge Strong "W. S." Van Dyke II (Woody) (March 21, 1889 – February 5, 1943) was an American film director and writer who made several successful early sound films, including Tarzan the Ape Man in 1932, The Thin Man in 1934, San Francisco in 1936, and six popular musicals with Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. He received two Academy Award nominations for Best Director for The Thin Man and San Francisco, and directed four actors to Oscar nominations: William Powell, Spencer Tracy, Norma Shearer, and Robert Morley.[1] Known as a reliable craftsman who made his films on schedule and under budget, he earned the name "One Take Woody" for his quick and efficient style of filming.

Early life

Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke II was born on March 21, 1889 in San Diego, California.[2] His father was a Superior Court judge who died the day his son was born.[3] His mother, Laura Winston, returned to her former acting career.[3][4] As a child actor, Van Dyke appeared with his mother on the vaudeville circuit with traveling stock companies.[3] They traveled the west coast and into the Middle West. When he was five years old, they appeared at the old San Francisco Grand Opera House[5] in Blind Girl.[4] He would later remember his unusual education,

I think I've been to school in every state in the Union. Whenever the company stopped off long enough in any city I went back behind a school desk. The rest of the time my mother taught me.[4]

When Van Dyke was fourteen years old, he moved to Seattle to live with his grandmother.[3] While attending business school, he worked several part-time jobs, including janitor, waiter, salesman, and railroad attendant.[3] Van Dyke's early adult years were unsettled, and he moved among jobs. In 1909, he married actress Zelda Ashford, and the two joined various touring theater companies, finally arriving in Hollywood in 1915.[3]

Career

In 1915, Van Dyke found work as an assistant director to D. W. Griffith on the film The Birth of a Nation.[2] The following year, he was Griffith's assistant director on Intolerance.[3] That same year he worked as an assistant director to James Young on Unprotected (1916), The Lash (1916), and the lost film Oliver Twist, in which he also played the role of Charles Dickens.[3]

In 1917, Van Dyke directed his first film, The Land of Long Shadows, for Essanay Studios.[2] That same year he directed five other films: The Range Boss, Open Places, Men of the Desert, Gift O' Gab, and Sadie Goes to Heaven. In 1927, he traveled to Tacoma to direct two silent films for the new H.C. Weaver Productions: Eyes of the Totem and The Heart of the Yukon (the latter is considered a lost film).

During the silent era he learned his craft and by the advent of the talkies was one of MGM's most reliable directors. He came to be known as "One-Take Woody" or "One-Take Van Dyke", for the speed with which he would complete his assignments. MGM regarded him as one of the most versatile, equally at home directing costume dramas, westerns, comedies, crime melodramas, and musicals.

Many of his films were huge hits and top box office in any given year. He received Academy Award for Best Director nominations for The Thin Man (1934) and San Francisco (1936). He also directed the Oscar-winning classic Eskimo (also known as Mala the Magnificent), in which he also has a featured acting role.

His other films include the island adventure White Shadows in the South Seas (1928); its follow-up, The Pagan (1929); Trader Horn (1931), which was filmed almost entirely in Africa; Tarzan the Ape Man (1932); Manhattan Melodrama (1934); and Marie Antoinette (1938). He is perhaps best remembered, however, for directing Myrna Loy and William Powell in four Thin Man films: The Thin Man (1934), After the Thin Man (1936), Another Thin Man (1939), and Shadow of the Thin Man (1941); and Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy in six of their greatest hits, Naughty Marietta (1935), Rose Marie (1936), Sweethearts (1938), New Moon (1940) (uncredited because halfway through filming Robert Z. Leonard took over), Bitter Sweet (1940), and I Married an Angel (1942).

The earthquake sequence in San Francisco is considered[by whom?] one of the best special-effects sequences ever filmed.[citation needed] To help direct, Van Dyke called upon his early mentor, D. W. Griffith, who had fallen on hard times. Van Dyke was also known to hire old-time, out-of-work actors as extras. Because of his loyalty, he was much beloved and admired in the industry.

Van Dyke was known for allowing ad-libbing (that remained in the film) and for coaxing natural performances from his actors. He made stars of Nelson Eddy, James Stewart, Myrna Loy, Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Eleanor Powell, Ilona Massey, and Margaret O'Brien. He was often called in to work a few days (or more), uncredited, on a film that was in trouble or had gone over production schedule.

Promoted to the rank of major[6][7] prior to World War II, the patriotic Van Dyke set up a Marine Corps recruiting center in his MGM office. He was one of the first Hollywood bigwigs to advocate early U.S. involvement, and he convinced stars like Clark Gable, James Stewart, Robert Taylor, and Nelson Eddy to become involved in the war effort.

Final years and death

In the latter half of 1942, despite being ill with cancer and a bad heart, Van Dyke managed to direct one last film, Journey for Margaret, which premiered in New York City on December 17 that year.[8][9] It is a heart-rending movie that made five-year-old Margaret O'Brien an overnight star.

Van Dyke, a devout Christian Scientist, had refused most medical treatments and care during his final years. Following the general release of Journey for Margaret to theaters in January 1943, he said his goodbyes to his wife, children, and to studio boss Louis B. Mayer and then committed suicide on February 5 in Brentwood, Los Angeles.[1][10] Both Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, in accordance with Van Dyke's wishes, sang and officiated at his funeral.

He is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, near his mother, Laura Winston.

Legacy

On February 8, 1960, Van Dyke received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to Motion Pictures, at 6141 Hollywood Boulevard.[11][12]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Film Result
1934 Academy Award Best Film Editing (Conrad A. Nervig) Eskimo / Mala the Magnificent Won
1935 Academy Award[13] Best Director The Thin Man Nominated
1936 Venice Film Festival Best Foreign Film San Francisco Nominated
1937 Academy Award[14] Best Director San Francisco Nominated
1938 Venice Film Festival Best Foreign Film Marie Antoinette Nominated

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b "W. S. Van Dyke Dies, Film Director, 53". The New York Times. February 6, 1943. Retrieved July 17, 2009. Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke 2d, motion-picture director, died at his home in Brentwood shortly before noon today. His age was 53 ...
  2. ^ a b c Barson, Michael. "W. S. Van Dyke". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "W S Van Dyke". Hollywood's Golden Age. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Mayer, Alicia (December 24, 2012). "W.S. Van Dyke: the trusted director ..." Hollywood Essays. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  5. ^ "War Memorial Opera House" (PDF). verplanck consulting. ...the Wade (later Grand) Opera House. Located on the north side of Mission Street, just west of Third Street, the Grand Opera House perished in 1906, along with most of the city's other opera houses, including the Tivoli Opera House and the Orpheum Theater. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  6. ^ "Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) - Full Credits - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  7. ^ Shull, Michael S. (2006). "Hollywood War Films, 1937–1945". (Shadow of the Thin Man, 1941) : The only topical reference in this comic crime series entry was the billing in the opening credits for "Major" W. S. Van Dyke, the film's director. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. ^ Journey for Margaret, production and release information, American Film Institute (AFI), Los Angeles, California. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  9. ^ Journey for Margaret, "Original Print Information", Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Turner Broadcasting System, a subsidiary of Time Warner, Inc., New York, N.Y. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  10. ^ Erickson, Hal. "W. S. Van Dyke". The New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  11. ^ "Woody Van Dyke | Hollywood Walk of Fame". www.walkoffame.com. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  12. ^ "W.S. Van Dyke". latimes.com. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  13. ^ "The 7th Academy Awards, 1935". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  14. ^ "The 9th Academy Awards, 1937". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
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