David O. Selznick Is Dead

June 22, 1965 - Award-winning filmmaker David O. Selznick (pictured with Vivien Leigh in 1950), 63, producer of the classic “Gone With the Wind,” died of a heart attack today at Mount Sinai Hospital in Hollywood.

Selznick, married to Academy Award actress Jennifer Jones, was admitted to the hospital at 1 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 2:22 p.m.

Selznick and his wife were conferring with his attorney, Barry Brannen, when the producer was stricken. She rode with him in the ambulance to the hospital.

Selznick was one of the most prolific Hollywood filmmakers, but “Gone With the Wind” stands out as his most successful production.

Released in 1939, the film received 10 Academy Awards from 13 nominations, including wins for Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel). The film has been reissued several times and stands among the all-time box office hits.

Selznick was the first producer to win the Academy Award on two successive years — with “Gone With the Wind” and “Rebecca” the following year. He also received the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award in 1940, one of the highest tributes that can be paid to an industry figure. His wife was honored in 1943 for “Song of Bernadette.”

Other successful films produced by Selznick included “Duel in the Sun,” “A Farewell to Arms,” “Nothing Sacred,” the original “A Star Is Born,” “A Tale of Two Cities,” “David Copperfield,” “The Third Man,” and “Spellbound.”

Selznick was the son of Lewis J. Selznick, one of the industry’s pioneer figures.

The younger Selznick was trained in the distribution field of filmmaking, but got his start as a producer in the production of short subjects at the age of 24 for MGM.

In 1928, Selznick became assistant to B.P. Schulberg, then managing director of the studio, and within three years became second in command at Paramount.

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