Charles K. Feldman

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Charles K. Feldman (April 26, 1905 – May 25, 1968) was a Hollywood attorney, film producer and talent agent.

Charles K. Feldman
Born Charles Kenneth Gould
(1905-04-26)April 26, 1905
New York City, New York
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Occupation Producer and celebrity agent
Notable work The Glass Menagerie,
A Streetcar Named Desire,
The Seven Year Itch
Spouse(s) Jean Howard
(1935 m.–1947 div.)[1]
Clotilde Barot
(April 1968 m.–death)

Early life

Charles Kenneth Gould was born in New York City on April 26, 1905.[2] His father was a diamond merchant who immigrated to New Jersey. Both of his parents, however, died of cancer[3] and he was orphaned at age six, along with his five siblings.[4] He was taken in by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Feldman at age seven.[citation needed] Feldman was from Bayonne, New Jersey and was a furniture-store owner.[3] A few years later, the Feldmans moved permanently to California.[citation needed]

Career

Charles Feldman studied at the University of Michigan[5] and later became a lawyer, earning his degree from the University of Southern California. He earned money to put himself through college by working as a mail carrier and a cameraman in a movie studio.[4] He became a lawyer for talent agencies,[5] and by age 30, he had become known as a Hollywood attorney; however, he became an agent instead.[4] In 1932, Feldman founded the Famous Artists corporation and left his job as a lawyer.[5] Instead, Felder combined his background as a lawyer with his celebrity connections to help find and contract jobs.[4] Feldman's Famous Artists which was bought by Ashley-Steiner Famous in 1962.[6]

Feldman began using new tactics in his field. He would buy story ideas contract them to unemployed writers to make into a screenplay.[4] He would also negotiating one-picture deals for a star, not a long-term studio contract, as was the custom. This way clients could work at multiple studios simultaneously. Feldman also combined several clients into one package and selling them to a producer or studio as one unit.[7] Another tactic was the use of overlapping nonexclusive contracts with clients like Irene Dunne and Claudette Colbert,[6] demonstrating flexible alternatives to the so-called iron-clad studio contract in the classical Hollywood era.[7]

As an agent, he became friends with celebrities like Jack Warner, Sam Goldwyn,[4] Gary cooper, Greta Garbo, John Wayne, and many others.[5] This idea was the beginning of Hollywood's "package deal."[4] One of his greatest successes was The Bishop's Wife which was produced in 1948. He bought the rights to the book by Robert Nathan for $15,000 and sold the screen play for $200,000.[4]

Feldman held considerable sway in the making of some films. It was Feldman who suggested to Jack L. Warner (as a friend) that he recut Howard Hawks's Big Sleep and add scenes to enhance Bacall's performance,[8] which he felt was more or less a "bit part" in the 1945 cut.[9]

He later went on to produce his own movies instead of selling the screenplays[4] and created the Charles K. Feldman Productions in 1945. This company produced A Streetcar Named Desire and The Seven Year Itch.[3] He was the agent of Marilyn Monroe from 1951 to 1955.[10]

Notable films

Personal life and death

In 1935 Feldman married actress Jean Howard. They fought frequently, and divorced in 1947; however, they remained good friends and even continued to share a house for some time.[4][3] He also gave up gambling in 1947.[4] He married Clotilde Barot on April 14, 1968[1] just six weeks before he died of pancreatic cancer.[3][2] He died May 25, 1968, although no funeral was held for him.[5] C. K. Feldman was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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