Norman Taurog

Norman Rae Taurog was born on February 23, 1899, in Chicago, Illinois, to Arthur Jack Taurog and Anita Taurog, née Goldsmith. Arthur's naturalization records indicate he was born in the Russian Empire in 1872 or 1873, while Anita was originally from New York. Census records later identified Arthur's parents as being from Germany and Anita's from England. Arthur and Anita married in Chicago in 1896.

Taurog began performing on stage as a child. In 1913, he appeared on Broadway in A Good Little Devil, and that same year made his film debut in the short Tangled Relations, produced by Thomas Ince's studios, at the age of thirteen. For the eight years following that screen appearance, he worked primarily in theater, largely in off-Broadway productions.

In 1919, Taurog transitioned into film directing, beginning his collaboration with Larry Semon on The Sportsman, released in 1920. Over the following decade he directed 42 silent films, predominantly short subjects, developing a style centered on light comedy while also demonstrating facility with drama and complex narratives. His first feature-length film was The Ghetto, starring George Jessel, which he directed in early 1928. The film was later expanded with musical and dialogue sequences directed by Charles C. Wilson and released as Lucky Boy in 1929.

Taurog's career reached a turning point in 1931 when he directed Skippy, earning him the Academy Award for Best Director. At 32 years old, he held the record as the youngest person to win that award for eight and a half decades. His nephew Jackie Cooper, who starred in the film, also received an acting nomination. In his 1981 autobiography Please Don't Shoot My Dog, Cooper recounted that during production, when he was unable to cry on cue, Taurog had a studio security guard simulate shooting Cooper's dog behind a prop wall to provoke the emotional response. Taurog declined to offer his account of the incident when contacted during the book's preparation. In February 2012, Taurog's Oscar statuette sold at auction in Beverly Hills for $301,973.

Throughout the 1930s, Taurog directed a range of well-received productions across multiple genres. If I Had a Million (1932) featured an ensemble cast including Gary Cooper, George Raft, Charles Laughton, and W. C. Fields. We're Not Dressing (1934) starred Bing Crosby, Carole Lombard, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Ray Milland. The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935) again featured Crosby alongside Burns and Allen. In 1938, he directed both The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Boys Town, the latter earning him a second Academy Award nomination for Best Director. That same year, he shot test scenes for The Wizard of Oz before Victor Fleming was chosen to direct; Taurog was reassigned to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He subsequently directed Broadway Melody (1940), starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell, and Young Tom Edison (1940) with Mickey Rooney. He directed Judy Garland three times in the early 1940s: Little Nellie Kelly (1940), Presenting Lily Mars (1943), and Girl Crazy (1943). Words and Music (1948), a fictionalized account of the relationship between Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, featured Garland, Gene Kelly, Rooney, and Cyd Charisse. His other 1948 releases included The Bride Goes Wild with Van Johnson and June Allyson, and Big City. In 1947, he directed The Beginning or the End, a docudrama centered on the atomic bomb.

Taurog directed six films featuring the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Beginning with Jumping Jacks (1952), he went on to direct the duo in The Stooge (1953), You're Never Too Young (1954), The Caddy (1954), Living It Up (1955), and Pardners (1956). He subsequently directed Lewis in two solo vehicles, Don't Give Up the Ship (1959) and Visit to a Small Planet (1960).

In 1960, Taurog directed his first Elvis Presley film, G.I. Blues, which marked a shift in Presley's screen persona away from the brooding roles he had played in Loving You (1957), Jailhouse Rock (1957), and King Creole (1958). Over the following eight years, Taurog directed Presley in eight additional films: Blue Hawaii (1961), Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), It Happened at the World's Fair (1963), Tickle Me (1965), Spinout (1966), Double Trouble (1967), Speedway (1968), and Live a Little, Love a Little (1968), which was also Taurog's final film. In total, he directed nine Presley films, more than any other director.

Between 1920 and 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. He retired from directing in 1968. For his contributions to the motion picture industry, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1600 Vine Street. Norman Taurog died on April 7, 1981.