Darryl Francis Zanuck

Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck in 1964
Born	Darryl Francis Zanuck (1902-09-05)September 5, 1902 Wahoo, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	December 22, 1979(1979-12-22) (aged 77) Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Resting place	Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Years active	1922–70
Spouse(s)	Virginia Fox (1924–79; his death)
Children	3, including Richard D. Zanuck Dean Zanuck

Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902 – December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors (the length of his career was rivaled only by that of Adolph Zukor). He earned three Academy Awards as producer for Best Picture during his tenure, but was responsible for many more.

Zanuck was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, the son of Louise (née Torpin) and Frank Zanuck, who owned and operated a hotel in Wahoo. Zanuck was of part Swiss descent and was raised a Protestant. At age six, Zanuck and his mother moved to Los Angeles, where the better climate could improve her poor health. At age eight, he found his first movie job as an extra, but his disapproving father recalled him to Nebraska. In 1917, despite being fifteen, he deceived a recruiter, joined the United States Army, and served in France with the Nebraska National Guard during World War I.

Upon returning to the US, he worked in many part-time jobs while seeking work as a writer. He found work producing movie plots, and sold his first story in 1922 to William Russell and his second to Irving Thalberg. Screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas, story editor at Universal Pictures' New York office, stated that one of the stories Zanuck sent out to movie studios around this time was completely plagiarized from another author's work.