Christopher Bean

Samuel Grosvenor "Sam" Wood was an American film director, and producer, who was best known for directing such Hollywood hits as A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and The Pride of the Yankees. He was also involved in a few acting and writing projects. Wood began his... career as an actor, and worked for Cecil B. De Mille as an assistant in 1915. A solo director by 1919, Wood worked throughout the 1920s directing some of Paramount Pictures's biggest stars, among them Gloria Swanson and Wallace Reid. He joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1927, working with Marion Davies, Clark Gable, Marie Dressler, and Jimmy Durante. In the 1940s, Wood directed Ginger Rogers through her Oscar-winning performance in Kitty Foyle . At one point, he served as president of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. Wood was married to Clara L. Roush from 1908 to his death in 1949. One of Wood's daughters was film and television actress K. T. Stevens who started her career in one of her father's films, Peck's Bad Boy , credited as 'Baby Gloria Wood'. His oldest daughter was also an actress, Jeane Wood.
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