Richard Thorpe

Directing·Feb 24, 1896·Hutchinson, Kansas, USA

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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

Film	Credit
The Scorpio Letters1967 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Last Challenge1967 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
That Funny Feeling1965 · Director	Director
The Truth About Spring1965 · Director	Director
The Golden Head1964 · Director	Director
Fun in Acapulco1963 · Director	Director
Follow the Boys1963 · Director	Director
The Horizontal Lieutenant1962 · Director	Director
The Honeymoon Machine1961 · Director	Director
The Tartars1961 · Director	Director
The House of the Seven Hawks1959 · Director	Director
Killers of Kilimanjaro1959 · Director	Director
Tip on a Dead Jockey1957 · Director	Director
Ten Thousand Bedrooms1957 · Director	Director
Jailhouse Rock1957 · Director	Director
Quentin Durward1955 · Director	Director
The Prodigal1955 · Director	Director
Bedevilled1955 · Director	Director
Athena1954 · Director	Director
The Student Prince1954 · Director	Director
Knights of the Round Table1953 · Director	Director
All the Brothers Were Valiant1953 · Director	Director
The Girl Who Had Everything1953 · Director	Director
The Prisoner of Zenda1952 · Director	Director
Ivanhoe1952 · Director	Director
Carbine Williams1952 · Director	Director
It's a Big Country1951 · Director	Director
The Unknown Man1951 · Director	Director
The Great Caruso1951 · Director	Director
Vengeance Valley1951 · Director	Director
Three Little Words1950 · Director	Director
Black Hand1950 · Director	Director
Malaya1949 · Director	Director
Challenge to Lassie1949 · Director	Director
The Sun Comes Up1949 · Director	Director
Big Jack1949 · Director	Director
A Date with Judy1948 · Director	Director
On an Island with You1948 · Director	Director
This Time for Keeps1947 · Director	Director
Fiesta1947 · Director	Director
What Next, Corporal Hargrove?1945 · Director	Director
Her Highness and the Bellboy1945 · Director	Director
Thrill of a Romance1945 · Director	Director
The Thin Man Goes Home1944 · Director	Director
Two Girls and a Sailor1944 · Director	Director
Cry 'Havoc'1943 · Director	Director
Above Suspicion1943 · Director	Director
Three Hearts for Julia1943 · Director	Director