Talk:David O. Selznick

Needs more editorial work
This is an inadequate biographical entry. Deficient in many ways. Call-out to Wiki bio editors, (which includes me!) see what you can do to enhance the content. Betempte (talk) 18:34, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

"O." or "Oliver"
I've long been burdened with the belief that David O. Selznick had no middle name, only a middle initial. Yet here, it is listed as "Oliver". I now realise that the line about "What does the 'O' stand for?" - "Nothing." is actually from North by Northwest, but even so his bio on IMDb lists the quote "...I decided to take a middle initial and went through the alphabet to find one that seemed to give me the best punctuation and decided on 'O'."

So is this a myth he took part in himself, or is the "Oliver" a myth that came about later? Whatever the answer turns out to be, I suggest we mention it here - preferably with references - so we can settle people's arguments... - IMSoP 02:57, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)

The O. really stands for nothing. He was born David Selznick, and found that the middle initial gave him flair. Quote: '''The "O" in Selznik's middle name, though it has a period after it, doesn't stand for anything. Selznik added it because he felt it added flair to his name.''' This is actually from IMDb, but I have read it many times already, in books and documentaires. &mdash;  ēmpoor!  22:33, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Well, yes, as I say, IMDb certainly supports the no middle name hypothesis; but a quick Google search shows Britannica and MSN Movies among those listing the "Oliver". So I'm at a loss to decide what to take as an "authoritative" source on this; a fully authorised biography perhaps? Just a page that mentions both the "Oliver" and the "Nothing", and discusses which one is correct, would be reassuring... - IMSoP 23:41, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Too bad he died 40 years ago (for us and for the motion pictures industry).. No living family who wrote any books? &mdash;  ēmpoor!  17:47, 24 August 2005 (UTC)

His ex-wife Irene Mayer Selznick wrote her memoir "A Private View" (Knopf). His sons have given interviews and one produced the documentary "The Making of GWTW." Neither of his sons has any children, despite a number of marriages for each.

What about the personal quote in his IMDb bio? "I have no middle name...I had an uncle, whom I greatly disliked, who was also named David Selznick, so in order to to avoid any growing confusion between the two of us, I decided to take a middle initial and went through the alphabet to find one that seemed to give me the best punctuation and decided on 'O'." Can that be sourced/confirmed anywhere? SteveCrook 05:51, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Wouldn't the easiest solution be to get ahold of a copy of his birth certificate from Allegheny County Vital Records? (see ) That would certainly confirm what his birth name was... Seann 10:21, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
 * it is well known that the O stands for... nothing! i'll put an extract in the article (which can be found without any problem in amazon with the search engine function)... thanks to correct my english kernitou talk 12:40, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm quite sure that it doesn't stand for anything as well. But how do you explain the Britannica & MSN Movies references above? The only way to be 100% certain is to get a copy of his birth certificate. SteveCrook 05:50, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Getting his birth certificate would be the best way, but might not be the easiest. The Allegheny County records site mentioned above says that only family members can get a copy of the record. PA seems to be very protective of its residents. SteveCrook 05:59, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
 * he wrote it himself... plenty enough and more accurate than anything kernitou talk 15:56, 2 July 2006 (UTC)


 * There's a difference between someone writing something themselves in a form that can be sourced and cited and this case where it was reported that an interview claimed that he said it. Nothing that can be sourced and cited there. SteveCrook 17:57, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

From the book Memo from David O. Selznick, by David O. Selznick, p. 3:
 * I have no middle name. I briefly used my mother's maiden name, Sachs. I had an uncle, whom I greatly disliked, who was also named David Selznick, so in order to avoid the growing confusion between the two of us, I decided to take a middle initial and went through the alphabet to find one that seemed to give me the best punctuation, and decided on "O."

That wasn't from an interview; it was written by Selznick himself. — Walloon 18:54, 2 July 2006 (UTC)


 * At last. A citable source. Thanks SteveCrook 19:53, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
 * funny steve, "at last", it has been said since 2004 in this talk page... kernitou talk 05:36, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Other sources
Can other reference sources be used and listed? Only one appears in the bibliography.--Msr69er 20:10, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

"In photographs Selznick always looked constipated." -- That may not be absolutely, 100% encyclopedic in tone. Ken Kukec (talk) 18:39, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

The Republican Rally, October 18, 1944
This citation is in conflict with information from the Randolph Scott entry, which names Cecil B. DeMille as the master of ceremony, not Lionel Barrymore. Does anyone have a definitive source for this? Goodros nemesis (talk) 14:59, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

The Wild Heart/Gone to Earth
Re the passage:
 * Some of these were major plot points so the story doesn't make as much sense as the original. He also added a prologue and added various other scenes most of which added explanations of things, usually just by putting labels on them. Many of the additional scenes were close-ups of Jennifer Jones. The most infamous of these are the scenes at the end when she is carrying the tame fox. They presumably couldn't find a tame fox in Hollywood because in the additional scenes, Jennifer is carrying what is obviously a stuffed toy fox.


 * Michael Powell summed up the duo's relationship in this quote, "We decided to go ahead with David O. (Selznick) the way hedgehogs make love: verrry carefully !"

That really goes into more detail than warranted for this article. It takes up as many words as the first thirty years of Selznick's biography. It would be better placed in the separate article Gone to Earth on the film itself. — Walloon 21:25, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Most if it was already mentioned in the article on Gone to Earth. I've moved over the bits that were mentioned here but weren't mentioned in the article about the film. Most of it is just to point out what a pompous ass Selznick was, how he ruined a good film and the low opinion he must have had of the American audiences, thinking that everything needed explaining like that. I left out the comments about his benzedrine habit and bullying and deliberate humiliation of Jennifer that Powell also describes -- SteveCrook 00:06, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

The Bad and the Beautiful
I think the article should mention the film The Bad and the Beautiful, which is based in a collection of anecdotes featuring Selznick (by Welles, Chandler, Hitchcock, Thalberg...), starring Kirk Douglas as Selznick. The page of the movie in Wikipedia doesn't mention this, I took it from the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, but I do not dare to put the information myself. Nazroon 05:27, 28 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I added a short section, since I thought it was noteworthy. The Jonathan Shields character was not based exclusively on Selznick--while both had a father who made and lost a fortune in the movie business, both were womanizers (which is a severe understatement in Selznick's case) and both could not stop themselves from meddling in others' work, usually through those infamous memos (Korda and Reed had to deal with this on The Third Man too), it's not just Selznick. The "Cat Man" subplot is taken from Val Lewton's life. Selznick likewise had no connections with Diana Barrymore, the model for the Georgia Lorrison character; his relationship with Jennifer Jones, whom he wooed away from Robert Walker, was far more complex. Nor did he ever work with Faulkner or any other Southern novelist to my knowledge.
 * But still there were enough similarities to make Selznick think he was bring defamed, so I jumped in where you hesitated. What's that old saying? "Fools rush in ..." Zeno Cosini~enwiki (talk) 23:02, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

Gary Cooper
Some unregistered editor is absolutely possessed to insert the same anecdote about Gary Cooper in any article having to do with Gone With the WInd. This is an encyclopedia article, not a depository for favorite anecdotes. — Walloon 08:40, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

WP:WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers priority assessment
Per debate and discussion re: assessment of the approximate 100 top priority articles of the project, this article has been included as a top priority article. Wildhartlivie (talk) 07:33, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Amphetamine use
Could some medical expert inform us of the effects of amphetamine use? I've read that it makes people megalomaniacal, delusional and paranoid. It must have had psychological effects on David Selznick. I also hear it can induce strokes, did its usage contribute to his death? 50.202.81.2 (talk) 00:26, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

David O. Selznick?
Viewing the photograph with your article, is it not better that he ought to be "forgotten"??? 145.129.136.48 (talk) 16:01, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Shirley Temple
Should we include the allegations made against Selznick by Shirley Temple? LoneWolf1992 (user talk) 24:33 5 January 2022 (UTC)