Gregory La Cava facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gregory La Cava
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La Cava in 1926
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| Born | March 10, 1892 |
| Died | March 1, 1952 (aged 59) |
| Occupation | Film director |
Gregory La Cava (born March 10, 1892 – died March 1, 1952) was an American film director. He was known for his movies in the 1930s, especially comedies like My Man Godfrey and Stage Door. These films earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director, which is a very important award in movies.
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About Gregory La Cava
Gregory La Cava was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania. He studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students' League.
Starting in Animation
Around 1913, Gregory La Cava began working in animation. By 1915, he was an animator for a cartoon series called Animated Grouch Chasers.
Later in 1915, a famous newspaper owner named William Randolph Hearst decided to start his own animation studio. He wanted to make cartoons based on the comic strips from his newspapers. Hearst hired La Cava to manage this new company, called International Film Service. La Cava hired other talented animators, including Grim Natwick, who later became famous at Disney.
Hearst gave La Cava's studio a lot of money to make cartoons. This helped them create many cartoon series from Hearst's comics. However, La Cava felt his cartoons looked too much like animated comic strips with speech bubbles. He wanted them to be more like real movies. To improve, he had his animators study films by Charlie Chaplin to learn about better timing and how characters act.
In 1918, the studio had to close down. After that, La Cava moved to Hollywood to try new things.
Directing Live-Action Films
By 1922, Gregory La Cava started directing live-action comedies. These were short films, often called "two-reel comedies." He worked with many famous actors during the silent movie era, including:
- Bebe Daniels
- Richard Dix
- W. C. Fields
La Cava eventually started directing longer movies, known as feature films. He is most famous for the sound films he made in the 1930s, especially his comedies. He also often helped write the screenplays for his movies. Some of his well-known sound films include:
- Laugh and Get Rich (1931)
- The Half-Naked Truth (1932)
- The Age of Consent (1932)
- Symphony of Six Million (1932)
- Bed of Roses (1932)
- Gabriel Over the White House (1933)
- What Every Woman Knows (1934) with Helen Hayes
- The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
- Private Worlds (1935) with Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer
- She Married Her Boss (1935) with Claudette Colbert
- My Man Godfrey (1936), which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director. It starred William Powell and Carole Lombard.
- Stage Door (1937), also nominated for Best Director. This film featured Katharine Hepburn, Adolphe Menjou, and Ginger Rogers.
- Fifth Avenue Girl (1939) with Ginger Rogers
- Primrose Path (1940) with Ginger Rogers
After 1942, La Cava directed fewer films. His last official movie was Living in a Big Way in 1947.
Personal Life
Gregory La Cava had a son with his first wife, Beryl. They later divorced in 1937. In 1940, he married Grace O. Garland. Gregory La Cava passed away in his sleep on March 1, 1952. He was buried at Chapel of the Pines Crematory.
Images for kids
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La Cava in 1926
See also
In Spanish: Gregory La Cava para niños
