Daniel Mayer Selznick, one of Hollywood’s last direct connections to the industry’s founding families, died of natural causes on Thursday, August 1 at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California at 88.
He had been a longtime and beloved resident at the retirement home, overseeing the construction of the Louis B. Mayer Theater on the campus, and also speaking at the opening of the remodeled theater complex in 2017.
During his time at the Motion Picture Home, he wrote a memoir, Walking with Kings, which will be published next year by Alfred Knopf. The book recounts in vivid detail the author’s recollections of growing up as a young prince of Hollywood.
The younger son of iconic film producer David O. Selznick and theatrical producer Irene Mayer Selznick, as well as the grandson of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer and his first wife, Margaret Shenberg Mayer, Daniel Selznick grew up in Beverly Hills.
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He graduated from the George School and Harvard University, then attended the University of Geneva and did graduate work at Brandeis University.
He spent the rest of his life in and around the entertainment industry, serving as a production executive at Universal Studios for four years. In 1988, he produced the Peabody Award-winning documentary, The Making of a Legend: ‘Gone with the Wind, along with his older brother Jeffrey, who died in 1997.
In the documentary, the Selznick brothers pieced together how their father created one of America’s most beloved and highest-grossing motion pictures. Jeffrey and Daniel Selznick were 6 and 3, respectively, when their father made Gone with the Wind.
Daniel also produced the television mini-series Blood Feud and Hoover vs. the Kennedys, among others.
For many years, he served as the director of the Louis B. Mayer Foundation.
A vocal and enthusiastic supporter of the arts, Selznick was also a frequent speaker at film retrospectives, and was always available to film historians to answer questions about his
Selznick also had notable success as a theatrical producer. He presented his beloved stepmother, Jennifer Jones, in a charming light comedy, The Man with the Perfect Wife.
Married three times, Selznick has no immediate survivors. Donations in Selznick’s memory may be made to MPTF.