Richard Thorpe
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
Acting (3 movies)
Directing (139 movies)
Double Wedding
1937
Above Suspicion
1943
Ivanhoe
1952
King of the Wild
1931
The Honeymoon Machine
1961
Tarzan Finds a Son!
1939
Tarzan's New York Adventure
1942
Tarzan's Secret Treasure
1941
The Prisoner of Zenda
1952
Black Hand
1950
The Thin Man Goes Home
1944
Three Little Words
1950
Vengeance Valley
1951
Challenge to Lassie
1949
On an Island with You
1948
Thrill of a Romance
1945
This Time for Keeps
1947
That Funny Feeling
1965
Carbine Williams
1952
Malaya
1949
Fiesta
1947
Jailhouse Rock
1957
Tarzan Escapes
1936
The Vanishing West
1928
The Student Prince
1954
Fun in Acapulco
1963
Her Highness and the Bellboy
1945
Three Loves Has Nancy
1938
The Unknown Man
1951
The House of the Seven Hawks
1959
Cry 'Havoc'
1943
Two Girls and a Sailor
1944
Follow the Boys
1963
Knights of the Round Table
1953
The Girl Who Had Everything
1953
It's a Big Country
1951
All the Brothers Were Valiant
1953
Night Must Fall
1937
Quentin Durward
1955
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1939
Joe Smith, American
1942
The Last Challenge
1967
Green Eyes
1934
A Date with Judy
1948
White Cargo
1942
The Great Caruso
1951
Apache Trail
1942
Athena
1954
Wild Horse
1931
The Horizontal Lieutenant
1962
Tip on a Dead Jockey
1957
Secret of the Chateau
1934
The Sun Comes Up
1949
Bedevilled
1955
The Earl of Chicago
1940
Cross-Examination
1932
Murder at Dawn
1932
The King Murder
1932
Grief Street
1931
The Prodigal
1955
The Voice of Bugle Ann
1936
Forgotten
1933
The Desert of the Lost
1927
The Toy Wife
1938
Ten Thousand Bedrooms
1957
The Lone Defender
1930
The Bad Man
1941
Murder on the Campus
1933
Wyoming
1940
Big Jack
1949
The Truth About Spring
1965
20 Mule Team
1940
Notorious But Nice
1933
The Tartars
1961
Barnacle Bill
1941
Man-Proof
1938
The Midnight Lady
1932
Killers of Kilimanjaro
1959
Probation
1932
What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
1945
Rainbow Over Broadway
1933
Border Romance
1929
Love Is a Headache
1938
City Park
1934
The First Hundred Years
1938
Women Won't Tell
1932
The King of the Kongo
1929
Slightly Married
1932
The Crowd Roars
1938
A Man of Sentiment
1933
Beauty Parlor
1932
I Have Lived
1933
Stolen Sweets
1934
The Scorpio Letters
1967
Three Hearts for Julia
1943
The Lady from Nowhere
1931
The Secrets of Wu Sin
1932
Dangerous Number
1937
The Utah Kid
1930
Forgotten Women
1931
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| On the Go | 1925 | Writer |
| Tearin' Loose | 1925 | Writer |
| Double Daring | 1926 | Writer |
| The Ridin' Rowdy | 1927 | Writer |
| The Desert of the Lost | 1927 | Writer |
| The Ballyhoo Buster | 1928 | Writer |
| The Valley Of Hunted Men | 1928 | Writer |
| The Flyin' Buckaroo | 1928 | Writer |
| The Scorpio Letters | 1967 | Producer |
| The Last Challenge | 1967 | Producer |