Mervyn LeRoy (October 15, 1900 - September 13, 1987) was an American
film director,
producer and sometime
actor.
Early life
Born to
Jewish parents
[Mervyn LeRoy - Biography, Bruce Eder, Allmovie] in
San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the
1906 earthquake. (His paternal grandfather owned a successful San Francisco department store that was destroyed in the quake; the store was heavily insured, but the insurance company went bankrupt in the aftermath of the earthquake.) To make money, young Mervyn sold newspapers and entered talent shows as a singer. Through this he worked his way into
vaudeville. When his act broke up, he and his cousin,
Jesse Lasky, went to
Hollywood.
