ARTHUR FREED (1894-1973)

ARTHUR GROSSMAN

Born: September 9th, 1894 (South Carolina)

Died: April 12th, 1973 (heart attack)

Marriage: Renée Klein (1923-?)

Children: Barbara Saltzman

Interesting Fact: Arthur had a difficult time playing out a scene in his mind and would also respond "I just can't visualize it." This common occurrence was spoofed on after the Kelly & Charisse dance sequence in "Singin' in the Rain" by Millard Mitchell as film producer R.F. Simpson.

Successful Era: MGM musical years of 1923-1960.

Awards: He has won two Academy Awards: Best Picture for "An American in Paris" (1951) & "Gigi" (1958). In 1952 he won the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, and then another Honorary Award from the Academy in 1968. He has been nominated for the Laurel Award four times never to win one. After his death he was awarded the ASCAP Award in 1986 along with his co-composer Nacio Herb Brown for the song "Singin' in the Rain."

My Favorite Film: As a songwriter "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) is my favorite. As a producer my favorite of his is "Annie Get Your Gun" (1950). It is a completely different setting from the other musicals of the time.

He began as a simple song lyricist and was enlisted at MGM with composer Nacio Herb Brown. Together they created some of the most popular songs of early Hollywood. Arthur, however, wanted to do more than music. He became an associate producer for "The Wizard of Oz" in 1939 and then went on to produce almost every musical hit on MGM's lot. Now as a producer he created a new kind of musical that incorporated the meaning of the song into the script itself, rather than just for entertainment. He also created a team of talented artists known as the "Freed Unit" and drew from their talents often. This team included Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire & Judy Garland, which he often teamed together. After this he became President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1963 to 1966. In 1972 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In the collage above are the pictures that he has written music for, and not the films he produced. I hope to cross his name again as a Producer and make a new collage.

In this trailer of "Singin in the Rain" (1952)

you get a compilation of some of his music.