Trivia

In 1917 he merged his production company with All-Star Feature Films Corp., owned by brothers Edgar Selwyn and Archibald Selwyn, creating the Goldwyn Pictures Corp. The symbol of the new company was a reclining lion, surrounded by a banner made from a strip of celluloid film with the words "Ars Gratia Artis" ("Art for Art's Sake") at the top, which was designed by Howard Dietz. The trademark adorned the front gate of the studio's Culver City, CA, production facilities, which ranked with the finest in Hollywood (the inspiration for the original "Leo the Lion" likely were the stone lions at the New York Public Library on 44th St., which was across from the All-Star Feature Corp.'s offices). Goldfish liked the name of the new studio so much that he renamed himself Samuel Goldwyn. He was forced out of the company in 1922. It was merged with Loew's Inc.'s Metro Pictures in 1924 through a stock swap, creating Metro-Goldwyn, which subsequently merged with Louis B. Mayer Productions, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was born--even though Goldwyn himself had nothing to do with the company that bore his name (he tried legal action to prevent the new company from using it, but lost). Goldwyn, who had also been ousted from an earlier company he had owned, did not get along well with partners and remained an independent producer for the rest of his career.

In the 1930s and 1940s the Hollywood studio system was dominated by a handful of men who ran their domains largely by themselves, and with an iron hand: Louis B. Mayer (MGM), Adolph Zukor (Paramount), Harry Cohn (Columbia), Carl Laemmle (Universal), Jack L. Warner (Warner Bros.), Herbert J. Yates (Republic), Darryl F. Zanuck (Warners in the 1930s and 20th Century-Fox in the 1940s) and Goldwyn and David O. Selznick as independent producers. By 1959 all of these men--with the exception of Warner--had either died, retired or been forced out of their own companies.

His sayings, sometimes known as "Goldwynisms," were famous for their unintentional wit, which was partially as a result of his somewhat limited understanding of the English language that surfaced when he tried to comment on certain situations. There are many examples of this, such as "Include me out" or "a verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.".

Father of Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and Ruth Capps. Grandfather of Tony Goldwyn and John Goldwyn.

At one time he was scheduled to appear as the "Mystery Guest" on the TV game show What's My Line? (1950), in which panelists are blindfolded and have to guess who the Mystery Guest is. The show's rules required that panelists who found out the Mystery Guest's identity before he or she appeared on the show had to disqualify themselves. A few days before his scheduled appearance, Goldwyn ran into panelist Dorothy Kilgallen in a restaurant and said, "Guess what, Dorothy? I'm going to be on your show Sunday night!" She told him that since she now knew he would be the Mystery Guest, she'd have to disqualify herself. A few days later Goldwyn ran into Bennett Cerf, also a panelist on the show, and said, "Guess what, Bennett? I did a really dumb thing the other day and told Dorothy that I'm going to be on your show Sunday night!" Cerf also was forced to disqualify himself, resulting in the only double disqualification in the show's history.

When he emigrated to the US, an Immigration Service clerk changed his last name from "Gelbfisz" to what he thought was its English translation, "Goldfish". Sam changed it to Goldwyn when he went into partnership with producer Edgar Selwyn, combining the first syllable of "Goldfish" with the last syllable of "Selwyn". He originally wanted to do the opposite, until someone pointed out that it would result in his new name being "Selfish".

Was forced out of Famous Players-Lasky on 9/14/16, and incorporated Goldwyn Pictures with brothers Edgar Selwyn and Archibald Selwyn two months later on 11/19/16. At that point in his career he needed the highly respected Selwyns, who were successful Broadway producers and owned a library of filmable plays. The Selwyns went into business with him because he had Mabel Normand, the biggest star in the movies, under contract. He had signed her to a personal contract on 9/15/16, two days after resigning from Famous Players-Lasky. The contract was set to kick in after her contract with Mack Sennett expired in 1917. Normand had been voted the top movie comedienne in a July 1916 "Motion Pictures Magazine" readers' poll, and going into business with him gave the Selwyns access to her; without her, he would probably not have been able to convince them to go into business with him. By partnering with him, they gained access to some of the finest production facilities in Hollywood and one of the top female stars.

Wife Frances Howard would often travel to New York City scouting Broadway productions, looking for talent in both the production's acting areas and the creative teams. On a trip to see "Lady in The Dark" she discovered Danny Kaye, and upon returning to Hollywood insisted to her husband that he put Kaye under contract. After Kaye arrived in Hollywood, several screen tests were made to determine the best possible path for his future in the film business. The major problem with his physical look was his natural brown hair. Frances, upon seeing these test screenings, dictated to her husband that "they had to change his hair color!" and said to change him to a redhead. Goldwyn's press agent, however, always insisted that Kaye's strawberry-red hair was his natural color.

In 2002 he was portrayed on Broadway in "Alan King as Mr. Goldwyn" by actor/comedian/producer Alan King. Play focuses on Goldwyn in the early 1950s when he is making Hans Christian Andersen (1952).

Formed Goldwyn Pictures Corp., 1917.

Inducted into the United States Croquet Hall of Fame in 1979.

Produced eight Oscar Best Picture nominees: Arrowsmith (1931), Dodsworth (1936), Dead End (1937), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Little Foxes (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and The Bishop's Wife (1947). "The Best Years of Our Lives? is the only winner in the category.

Is portrayed by Olivier Pierre in RKO 281 (1999), by Lee Wallace in This Year's Blonde (1980) and by Vernon Weddle in Malice in Wonderland (1985)

Formed Goldwyn Distributing Corp., 1917.

Formed Goldwyn Producing Corp., 1916.

In his book "Hollywood", Garson Kanin wrote that over his lengthy career, the impressive list of writers that Goldwyn employed included Thornton Wilder, Edna Ferber, Francis Marion, Montague Glass, Joseph Hergesheimer, Elmer Rice, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, Morrie Ryskind, Howard Estabrook, Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman, William Anthony McGuire, Nunnally Johnson, Willard Mack, Harry Wagstaff Gribble, Preston Sturges, Maxwell Anderson, Mordaunt Shairp, Rachel Crothers, John L. Balderston, Rose Franken, S.N. Behrman, Sonya Levien, Jo Swerling, John Howard Lawson, John Van Druten, Niven Busch, Arthur Kober, Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Paul Gallico, Harry Kurnitz, Leo Rosten, James Thurber, John Patrick, John Collier, Irwin Shaw, and Damon Runyon.

On March 27, 1971, Goldwyn was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon.

In 1957, Goldwyn was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes.

In the Grateful Dead's "Scarlet Begonias", the line "I ain't often right, but I've never been wrong" appears in the bridge. This is similar to Goldwyn's "I'm willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong.".

Mentioned in The Princess and the Pirate (1944).