Gabriel Pascal facts for kids

Gabriel Pascal (born June 4, 1894 – died July 6, 1954) was a Hungarian movie producer and director. He is famous for turning plays by the well-known Irish writer George Bernard Shaw into successful movies.

His most famous movie was Pygmalion in 1938. This film was about a bet between two rich men. One of them, Professor Higgins, tried to turn a poor, uneducated girl into a sophisticated lady. Pygmalion was so popular that after Pascal died, it became a huge Broadway musical called My Fair Lady. This musical was later made into another movie. Gabriel Pascal had the idea to make the play into a musical, even though he didn't live to see it happen.

Early life and beginnings

Gabriel Pascal made up his own name, and his real name is not known. He told stories about being rescued by Gypsies as a child. He claimed they taught him to beg, steal, and do acrobatic tricks. However, no one knows if these stories are true.

There are no official records of him before he was 17. At that age, a Catholic priest helped him join a military school in Holics, Hungary. Gabriel Pascal was not suited for military life. He became very interested in theater and studied at the Academy of the Hofburg Theater in Vienna. Later, he became interested in the new world of cinema. He made movies in Germany and Italy, with some success.

Pascal had one son named Peter. Peter's mother was Elsie, the sister of Pascal's landlady in Germany. Pascal found it hard to take care of himself, so he left for Holland. After World War II, when his movies Pygmalion and Major Barbara were successful, Pascal went back to Germany to find Peter. Sadly, Peter was listed as missing, and Elsie had died from a bomb.

Early movie career

Pascal started his career by making silent movies in Italy. These movies were shown in Germany through UFA Studios in Berlin. His first movie as a director was Populi Morituri, where he also acted.

He later produced horror movies in Germany. His most famous horror film was Unholy Tales in 1932. This movie was a collection of short, spooky stories, including some by Edgar Allan Poe. It featured a black cat and is now seen by some as a forgotten horror classic.

Meeting Meher Baba

In 1933, while in Hollywood, Pascal met Princess Norina Matchabelli. She wanted to make a movie based on the teachings of her spiritual teacher, Meher Baba. Pascal became very involved in this project. He even traveled to India to talk more with Meher Baba about the movie.

When Pascal arrived in India, Meher Baba was not in a hurry to finish the movie. He invited Pascal to live with him in India. Most people would have been disappointed, but Pascal enjoyed the simple life of an eastern spiritual seeker. He even changed his Western clothes for Eastern ones. He liked Meher Baba and stayed in touch with him for the rest of his life. Meher Baba gave Pascal nicknames like "Phoenix" and "Panther."

Pascal remained in contact with Meher Baba until the end of his life. They met one last time in New York in 1952. Even then, they talked about the movie Pascal had promised to make for Baba.

Later movie career

After some time, Pascal wanted to make more movies. He traveled back to America without any money but still determined. He landed in San Francisco and thought about what to do next. He then decided to approach George Bernard Shaw. Shaw was the most famous living playwright in the English-speaking world at that time.

Pascal had met Shaw years earlier. Shaw had been impressed by Pascal's love for art and cinema. Shaw had told him to visit when he had no money at all. Pascal was now in that exact situation. He found Shaw, first by hiding in a train toilet to get to New York, then by convincing a sea captain to take him to England.

Somehow, Pascal convinced Shaw to give him the rights to his plays. The first was Pygmalion (1938), which was a huge international success. It earned a lot of money and was praised by critics. Pascal then made Major Barbara (1941), which he both directed and produced. This movie was filmed in London during the bombing by the Nazis. The cast and crew had to hide in bomb shelters during air raids. Pascal kept the production going, and the movie was finished on time.

However, Pascal became more and more extravagant. He lost trust with his next film, Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). This was the most expensive British movie ever made at that time. It was a big financial failure and received bad reviews, though it is seen better today. Pascal famously insisted on bringing sand from Egypt for the movie to get the right colors. Shaw also became harder to work with. After Pygmalion was shortened for the screen, Shaw refused to let his plays be cut. So, Major Barbara and Caesar and Cleopatra were filmed almost completely, with extra scenes by Shaw himself. Both movies were over two hours long.

Pascal managed to produce one more movie, Androcles and the Lion, in 1952. By this time, he was getting very sick with cancer.

The famous court case

In the spring of 1954, in New York City, just before he died, Pascal planned a trip to India to see Meher Baba one last time. He was in the process of divorcing his wife. One day, he quickly wrote a note on hotel paper to his girlfriend. It said, "If I die on my trip to India I leave my entire estate to you." He signed and dated it, and two witnesses, a cook and a maid who spoke only Chinese, signed it too. This was a strange thing to do because Pascal was deeply in debt.

He died soon after, in July 1954. Within two years of his death, the musical My Fair Lady opened on Broadway. Pascal had managed to keep the rights to this musical by borrowing money from a follower of Meher Baba named Margaret Scott. So, after his death, his estate, which was worth nothing when he died, grew to an estimated value of two million dollars.

There was a big court battle over his money. His wife Valerie (who he was not fully divorced from) and his girlfriend fought over the estate. His unusual last will written on the hotel paper was used as proof for his girlfriend. The case was widely reported. Several of Meher Baba's followers were involved in his life at the end, and one, Harold Rudd, testified at the trial. The court decided to split Pascal's earnings from My Fair Lady evenly between his girlfriend and his wife. Each received over one million dollars. His wife Valerie tried to pay back the money borrowed from Margaret Scott. However, by the time the money came through, Mrs. Scott had sadly passed away. Valerie then paid the money to Margaret's daughter instead.

Legacy and impact

Pascal is remembered as one of the important Hungarian movie producers, like the famous Alexander Korda. He was the only producer to have major movie deals with seven different countries on three continents: Hungary, Italy, Germany, China, India, England, and the US.

He was also the only person who could convince George Bernard Shaw to change his plays for movies. Pascal even created the famous line for Pygmalion, which later appeared in My Fair Lady: "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain." Shaw, who called Pascal a "genius," added this line to the script. Pascal was known for being very extravagant. In 1938, Time magazine named him one of the world's most famous men, alongside Adolf Hitler.

Less known is his deep interest in spirituality and his great passion for art as a way to connect with God. Even less known is his lifelong dedication to his spiritual teacher, Meher Baba. His life is well documented in the biography written by his wife Valerie, The Disciple and His Devil, published in 1970. After Pascal's death, Valerie married the famous publisher George T. Delacorte Jr. She spent the rest of her life supporting charities under the name Valerie Delacorte.

See also

In Spanish: Gabriel Pascal para niños