Son of legendary independent Hollywood producer Samuel Goldwyn and a respected independent producer-distributor in his own right, Goldwyn began his career in England with the J. Arthur Rank Organization as a writer and associate producer after WWII. Recalled to Army service during the Korean War, he produced the award-winning documentary "Alliance for Peace" before forming Formosa Productions in 1955 and producing such films as "Man Without a Gun" (1955), "Proud Rebel" (1956) and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1960). In 1961 he made his directorial debut with the college youth film, "The Young Lovers" (1964) and during the 1970s produced the Chester Himes caper films, "Cotton Comes to Harlem" (1970) and "Come Back, Charleston Blue" (1972).
For his most recent production-distribution company, The Samuel Goldwyn Company (formed in 1979), he has produced "Mystic Pizza" (1988) and "Stella" (1990) and has distributed such on-the-cutting-edge, award-winning arthouse fare--by both established and first-time directors--as Bill Forsyth's "Gregory's Girl" (1981), Alex Cox's "Sid and Nancy" (1986), Stephen Frears' "Prick Up Your Ears" (1987), Robert Townsend's debut "Hollywood Shuffle" (1987), Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V" (1989), Charles Burnett's "To Sleep With Anger", David Lynch's "Wild at Heart", Luc Besson's "La Femme Nikita" (all 1990) and in 1991 Matty Rich's debut film "Straight Out of Brooklyn", John Sayles' "City of Hope" and Claude Chabrol's "Madame Bovary". Goldwyn subsequently enjoyed considerable success with Kenneth Branagh's production of "Much Ado About Nothing" and Ang Lee's charming low-budget comedy, "The Wedding Banquet" (both 1993).
- Also Credited As:
Samuel John Goldwyn Jr
- Born:
September 7, 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA
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Job Titles:
Executive, Director, Producer, Associate producer, Writer
Family
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Daughter: Catherine Howard Goldwyn. born in 1951; mother, Jennifer Howard
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Daughter: Elizabeth E Goldwyn. born December 25, 1976; mother, Peggy Elliott
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Daughter: Rebecca Howard Goldwyn. born on August 15, 1955; died on September 1, 1955; mother, Jennifer Howard
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Father: Samuel Goldwyn. born on August 27, 1882 in Warsaw, Poland; died in 1974; legendary co-founder of Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company; his namesake company, The Goldwyn Company, merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Productions to form MGM; formed Samuel Goldwyn Productions in 1923 becoming the longest-running independent producer in Hollywood
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Half-sister: Ruth Goldwyn. mother Blanche Lasky, Goldwyn s first wife
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Mother: Frances Howard. born in 1903; married Goldwyn in 1925; second wife of Samuel Goldwyn; died in 1976
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Son: Francis Sidney Howard Goldwyn. born in 1954; mother, Jennifer Howard
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Son: John Goldwyn. born in August 1958; mother, Jennifer Howard; named president of production, Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Group 1991; married to actress Colleen Camp
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Son: Peter Samuel Elliott Goldwyn. born July 18. 1979; mother, Peggy Elliott
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Son: Tony Goldwyn. born in May 1960; mother, Jennifer Howard; married to production designer Jane Musky
Education
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University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Milestones
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1944 Served with the US Army
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1948 Returned to USA
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1955 Founded Formosa Productions Inc.
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1955 Produced first feature film, Man Without a Gun
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1964 Directed first feature, The Young Lovers
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1979 Formed The Samuel Goldwyn Company; served as chairman and CEO
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1983 First film produced by the Samuel Goldwyn Company, The Golden Seal
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1991 The privately-owned Samuel Goldwyn Company went public after completing a merger with Heritage Entertainment Inc. (December); renamed Samuel Goldwyn Entertainment
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1997 Filed lawsuit against MGM and Metromedia when MGM announced plans to launch Goldwyn Films
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1997 Samuel Goldwyn Entertainment sold to MGM by Metromedia; Goldwyn attempted to relaunch company
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1999 Settled lawsuit with MGM over rights to use the name Goldwyn ; renamed company G2 Films
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2003 Produced Master and Commander: The Far Side Of the World which starred Russell Crowe; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture
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Became a TV producer of such shows as Adventure (1952-1953) and The Unexplained (1954)
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Became an associate producer at Universal
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Joined J. Arthur Rank Organization in London as a writer and associate producer after WWII
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Recalled to Army service; produced and directed army documentary films including Alliance for Peace which won a prize at the Edinburgh Film Festival
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Stage producing debut, Gathering Storm in London