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Darryl F. Zanuck

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Filmmaker

The Resume

    (September 5, 1902-December 22, 1979)
    Born in Wahoo, Nebraska
    Worked for Mack Sennett (1922-24)
    Worked for Warner Bros. (1924-33)
    Co-founded Twentieth Century Pictures (1933)
    Merged with Fox Studios and became head of 20th Century Fox (1935-71)
    Produced 'Little Caesar (1931),' '42nd Street (1933),' 'Moulin Rouge (1934),' 'Les Miserables (1935),' 'Poor Little Rich Girl (1936),' 'The Grapes of Wrath (1940),' 'Blood and Sand (1941),' 'How Green Was My Valley (1941),' 'My Darling Clementine (1946),' 'Twelve O'Clock High (1949),' 'All About Eve (1950),' 'The King and I (1956),' 'The Longest Day (1962)' and 'Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)'
    Died of pneumonia in Palm Springs, CA at age 77

Why he might be annoying:

    He was a pro boxer, steelworker and garment factory foreman before getting his show biz break.
    His Warner Bros. break was writing scripts for the Rin Tin Tin series.
    The only reason his start-up company (20th Century Fox) stayed afloat was a pre-teen named Shirley Temple.
    He was a notorious womanizer who utilized the casting couch and tried to bed down all his females stars (except Shirley Temple).
    He was barely literate and kept a dictionary in his john so he could look up words cast members were saying about him.
    In 1946 he erroneously stated, 'Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.'
    He hired his son as head of production for the studio in 1963, then fired him in 1969.
    After 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' was a box office bomb he was ousted from the studio he helped found.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the product of an alcohol fueled tryst between a motel desk clerk and the motel owner's daughter who was abandoned by both parents by age 13.
    He lied about his age so he could join the U.S. Army where he was stationed in Belgium during World War I.
    He got to be a movie studio exec through sheer determination because he didn't have an education and didn't know anybody in the business.
    He remained loyal to Warner Bros. until he was told he'd never be more to them than a mere employee.
    After making a silent movie in the '20s that was considered racist he vowed he would atone for his blunder and produced one of the first films about anti-Semitism - 1947's 'Gentleman's Agreement.'
    In the 1950s he promoted Cinemascope while other studio heads incorrectly believed it was just a fad like 3-D movies.
    Later in life to help him expand his vocabulary, he took up the game of Scrabble.
    He has received three Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Awards and will be the only one with three as they are no longer given more than once.
    He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 78 Votes: 60.26% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 91 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 25 Votes: 48.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 26 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 20 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 38 Votes: 57.89% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 75 Votes: 48.00% Annoying