Frank Borzage
Born
April 23, 1894
in Salt Lake City, UT
Died
June 19, 1962
of cancer in Westwood, CA
Frank Borzage was the winner of the first Academy Award Oscar presented to a director in 1927 for "Seventh Heaven." He left school when he was 14 to become an actor and worked in stock and repertory companies until 1913 when he made his first appearance as a romantic lead on the screen in a two-reeler starring Marguerite Fisher. In 1914 he made 16 two-reel films as a star for producer-director Thomas H. Ince and in the following year played the villain in two pictures with William S. Hart. His first directorial effort was in 1916 with Mae Murray, with whom he also costarred. Between 1917 and 1919, Borzage directed 14 feature pictures with such stars as Bessie Love, William Desmond, Pauline Starke and Gloria Swanson. His greatest success in the silent screen era came in 1920 with "Humoresque," a box office winner starring Vera Gordon. Borzage won a second Oscar in 1931 for his direction for his direction of Sally Ellers and James Dunn in "Bad Girls." His screen credits, among the 45 sound pictures he directed until his retirement in 1959, include "A Farewell to Arms," "Man's Castle," and "They Had to See Paris" with Will Rogers. Performers who worked under his direction included Tallulah Bankhead, Katharine Cornell, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Ethel Barrymore, Spencer Tracy, Charles Boyer and Clark Gable.
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Points of interest
Academy Awards
| Year | Category | Work | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | Best Director | 7th Heaven | Win |
| 1931 | Best Director | Bad Girl | Win |
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