
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 |


