Leo McCarey was an Academy Award winning American film director known for films like ‘Duck Soup’ and ‘The Awful Truth.’ This biography of Leo McCarey provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.
Leo McCarey
@Film Director, Family and Facts
Oct 3, 1898
Biography
Personal Details
- Birthday: October 3, 1898
- Died on: July 5, 1969
- Nationality: American
- Famous: Film Director, Film & Theater Personalities, Directors
- Spouses: Stella Martin (1920–1969)
- Known as: Thomas Leo McCarey
- Childrens: Virginia
Leo McCarey born at
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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Birth Place
He married Stella Martin in 1920. The couple had a daughter, Virginia, and remained married for almost five decades until McCarey’s death in 1969.
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Personal Life
Leo McCarey died of emphysema on July 5, 1969, at the age of 70.
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Personal Life
Thomas Leo McCarey was born on October 3, 1898, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. to Thomas J. McCarey and his French-born wife, Leona (Mistrot) McCarey. His father was once called "the greatest fight promoter in the world" by the ‘Los Angeles Times.’
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Childhood & Early Life
He attended St. Joseph’s Catholic school and Los Angeles High School before enrolling at the University of Southern California law school at the behest of his father. Following his graduation, he practised as a criminal defense attorney for some time and also dabbled in mining, boxing, and songwriting.
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Childhood & Early Life
McCarey's boyhood friend, the actor and future fellow director David Butler, referred him to director Tod Browning who took the creative young man as an assistant director in 1919.
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Career
In 1923, he joined Hal Roach Studios as a gagman and initially wrote gags for the ‘Our Gang’ series and other studio stars. He proceeded to form a highly productive collaboration with Charley Chase and produced and directed a number of shorts.
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Career
While at Roach, McCarey decided to team up two of the studio’s top comedians—Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The enduring partnership of Laurel and Hardy proved to be very popular and McCarey made 19 films starring this comedic duo.
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Career
McCarey directed his first full-length features, ‘The Sophomore’ and ‘Red Hot Rhythm’ in 1929. In 1930, he directed ‘Part Time Wife,’ a comedy about an estranged couple portrayed by Edmund Lowe and Leila Hyams, who reconnect through golf.
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Career
In 1933, he made ‘Duck Soup’ starring the Marx Brothers. The film was a flop at the time of its release though it gained a cult following over the years and is now regarded as one of the greatest comedies of all time.
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Career
He directed the comedy ‘The Awful Truth’ starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant as a soon-to-be-divorced couple. A commercial as well as critical hit, the movie was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1996, having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
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Major Works
The 1944 musical comedy ‘Going My Way’ directed and produced by Leo McCarey was the highest-grossing picture of 1944, and was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning seven, including Best Picture.
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Major Works