Norman Taurog

Director

About

Read More

Birth Place

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Born

February 23, 1899

Died

April 07, 1981

Biography

Read More

Archetypal "contract," studio director who entered films as an actor, began making comedy shorts, and moved up to features in 1929. Working most often for MGM and Paramount, Taurog specialized in comedies and other light entertainments, though he made several dramas as well, such as "The Beginning or the End" (1947), about the birth of the atomic bomb. By the mid-50s, he began directing ...

Filmography

Read More

Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)

Speedway (1968)

Double Trouble (1967)

Sergeant Deadhead (1965)

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)

Photos & Videos

View All

Girl Crazy (1943) -- (Movie Clip) Grinding Coffee

Girl Crazy (1943) -- (Movie Clip) But Not For Me

Family & Companions

Read More

Susan Taurog

Wife

Maternal aunt of Jackie Cooper.

Biography

Archetypal "contract," studio director who entered films as an actor, began making comedy shorts, and moved up to features in 1929. Working most often for MGM and Paramount, Taurog specialized in comedies and other light entertainments, though he made several dramas as well, such as "The Beginning or the End" (1947), about the birth of the atomic bomb. By the mid-50s, he began directing formula vehicles for box-office stars such as Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley.

Filmography

Director (Feature Film)

Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)

Speedway (1968)

Double Trouble (1967)

Sergeant Deadhead (1965)

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)

Tickle Me (1965)

It Happened at the World's Fair (1963)

Palm Springs Weekend (1963)

Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)

Blue Hawaii (1961)

All Hands on Deck (1961)

G.I. Blues (1960)

Visit to a Small Planet (1960)

Don't Give Up the Ship (1959)

Onionhead (1958)

The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1957)

Pardners (1956)

Bundle of Joy (1956)

The Birds and the Bees (1956)

You're Never Too Young (1955)

Living It Up (1954)

The Stooge (1953)

The Stars Are Singing (1953)

The Caddy (1953)

Room for One More (1952)

Jumping Jacks (1952)

Rich, Young and Pretty (1951)

The Toast of New Orleans (1950)

Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950)

Please Believe Me (1950)

That Midnight Kiss (1949)

The Bride Goes Wild (1948)

Big City (1948)

Words and Music (1948)

The Beginning or the End (1947)

Ziegfeld Follies (1946)

Director of prologue and retakes

The Hoodlum Saint (1946)

The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)

Director of addl scenes

Rationing (1944)

Retake Director

Presenting Lily Mars (1943)

Girl Crazy (1943)

Are Husbands Necessary? (1942)

A Yank at Eton (1942)

Married Bachelor (1941)

Fill-In Director

Design for Scandal (1941)

Men of Boys Town (1941)

Little Nellie Kelly (1940)

Gold Rush Maisie (1940)

Fill-In Director

Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)

Young Tom Edison (1940)

Lucky Night (1939)

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)

Boys Town (1938)

Mad About Music (1938)

The Girl Downstairs (1938)

You Can't Have Everything (1937)

Fifty Roads to Town (1937)

Fifty Races to Town (1937)

Strike Me Pink (1936)

Rhythm on the Range (1936)

The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935)

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934)

College Rhythm (1934)

We're Not Dressing (1934)

L'amour guide (1933)

A Bedtime Story (1933)

The Way to Love (1933)

If I Had a Million (1932)

[Prologue and Epilogue]

Girl Crazy (1932)

Addl scenes Director

The Phantom President (1932)

Hold 'Em Jail (1932)

Huckleberry Finn (1931)

Finn and Hattie (1931)

Forbidden Adventure (1931)

Troopers Three (1930)

Follow the Leader (1930)

Hot Curves (1930)

Sunny Skies (1930)

Lucky Boy (1929)

All Steamed Up (1929)

The Medicine Men (1929)

The Farmer's Daughter (1928)

The Ghetto (1928)

Blondes Beware (1928)

Oh! What a Day! (1923)

The Rent Collector (1921)

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

Problem Child (1990)

This Is Elvis (1981)

Director (Short)

Andy's Stump Speech (1924)

Life Events

1912

Stage acting debut, "The Good Little Devil" (with Mary Pickford)

1917

Film acting debut at IMP Studios, New York

1929

Co-directed first feature film, "Lucky Boy"

Photo Collections

Boys Town - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are a few photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's Boys Town (1938), starring Mickey Rooney.

Young Tom Edison - Movie Poster

Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Young Tom Edison (1940), starring Mickey Rooney. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Mad About Music - Behind-the-Scenes Stills

Here are a few photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of Universal's Mad About Music (1938), starring Deanna Durbin and Herbert Marshall.

Broadway Melody of 1940 - Behind-the-Scenes Stills

Here are a number of photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's Broadway Melody of 1940, starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, and George Murphy and directed by Norman Taurog.

Men of Boys Town - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are several photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's Men of Boys Town (1941), starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney.

Videos

Girl Crazy (1943) -- (Movie Clip) Grinding Coffee Their first meeting in their last co-starring MGM Musical, frisky Mickey Rooney as east-coast publishing-heir playboy Danny, banished to college out west, meets taller and prettier Judy Garland, whom we’ll learn is the college post-mistress Ginger, in the all-Gershwin full-tilt Freed Unit production, Girl Crazy, 1943.

Girl Crazy (1943) -- (Movie Clip) But Not For Me Feeling a fairly complex disappointment for having become vested in the college beauty pageant, post-mistress Ginger (Judy Garland) finds another George & Ira Gershwin tune from the original Broadway hit, good guy Rags (Ragland) attempting consolation, in MGM's Girl Crazy, 1943, also starring Mickey Rooney.

Girl Crazy (1943) -- (Movie Clip) Could You Use Me? One of only a couple numbers they perform together in their last MGM co-starring vehicle, it’s fallen to pretty college post-mistress Ginger (Judy Garland) to take departing playboy-heir student to the train to go home, his only regret in leaving her behind, with a George & Ira Gershwin tune, in Girl Crazy, 1943.

Girl Crazy (1943) -- (Movie Clip) Embraceable You The boys at Cody College throw a birthday for their beloved post-mistress Ginger (Judy Garland) who offers George and Ira Gershwin's Embraceable You, including an extended performance with dance director Charles "Chuck" Walters, in return, in Girl Crazy, 1943, also starring Mickey Rooney.

Girl Crazy (1943) -- (Movie Clip) Treat Me Rough With Tommy Dorsey and orchestra, George and Ira Gershwin's Treat Me Rough, first by June Allyson as a specialty, then by youthful playboy Danny (Mickey Rooney), about to be sent to college out west, in the lavish MGM Freed Unit musical Girl Crazy, 1943, also starring Judy Garland.

Living It Up (1954) -- (Movie Clip) I Mean A Female Girl New Mexico doctor Steve (Dean Martin) is sorry he can’t pretend patient Homer (Jerry Lewis) really has radiation poisoning, even though it’s costing him a trip to New York, until he meets reporter Wally (Janet Leigh) from the sponsoring newspaper, in the remake of Nothing Sacred, Living It Up, 1954.

Living It Up (1954) -- (Movie Clip) Money Burns A Hole In My Pocket Reporter Wally (Janet Leigh) in New York doesn’t want romantic doctor Steve (Dean Martin) to know she’s having his buddy-patient (Jerry Lewis) seen by experts, guides him into a song from the Broadway musical (Hazel Flagg) based on the movie Nothing Sacred, 1937, of which this movie is a remake, in Living It Up, 1954.

Living It Up (1954) -- (Movie Clip) First Time I Saw A Radioactive Early in Paramount's Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis re-boot of Nothing Sacred, 1937, Jerry as obscure New Mexico railroad employee Homer discovers he's slept in a radioactive car, then in New York reporter "Wally" (Janet Leigh) sees it as a pitch for her editor Oliver Stone (Fred Clark), in Living It Up, 1954.

Living It Up (1954) -- (Movie Clip) You're Gonna Dance With Me Now the toast of Manhattan because he’s supposed to be dying of radiation poisoning (in the remake of Nothing Sacred, 1937, and based on the Broadway musical version Hazel Flagg), MC Sid Tomak introduces Jerry Lewis as doomed Homer for a song by Jule Styne and Bob Hilliard, with Sheree North dancing in her movie debut, Dean Martin and Janet Leigh watching, in Living It Up, 1954.

Beginning Or The End, The (1947) -- (Movie Clip) Atom Bomb Special A wholly fictional prologue, as the ceremony covered in this fake newsreel never took place, and all the identified historical figures are portrayed by actors (Brian Donlevy, Hume Cronyn prominent), in MGM’s government-approved story of the atom bomb, The Beginning Or The End, 1947.

Please Believe Me (1950) -- (Movie Clip) No Point Getting On The Boat We've already met Deborah Kerr as English Alison, believing reports she's inherited a vast Texas estate, now boarding the ship from London, she meets Robert Walker and James Whitmore, whose motivations are not quite clear, then Peter Lawford and Mark Stevens who are more forthright, in MGM's Please Believe Me, 1950, produced by Val Lewton.

Boys Town (1938) -- (Movie Clip) No Such Thing As A Bad Boy Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) lobbies Nebraska newspaper magnate Hargraves (Jonathan Hale), a montage creates the buildings, and financier Dave (Henry Hull) frets, in MGM's Boys Town, 1938.

Girl Crazy (1943) - (Original Trailer) A womanizing playboy finds true love when he's sent to a desert college in Girl Crazy (1943) starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.

You're Never Too Young (1955) -- Original Trailer Original trailer for Paramount’s You’re Never Too Young, 1955, another hit vehicle for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (based on the same original story as Paramount’s The Major And The Minor, 1942, with Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland), featuring Diana Lynn, Nina Foch and Raymond Burr.

Blue Hawaii - (Original Trailer) A playboy (Elvis Presley) returns from the Army to the shores of Blue Hawaii (1961). Co-starring Angela Lansbury.

Young Tom Edison -- (Original Trailer) Mickey Rooney is Young Tom Edison (1940), defying authority to develop his first inventions.

Caddy, The - (Original Trailer) Jerry Lewis hits the links while Dean Martin sings "That's Amore" in the comedy hit The Caddy (1953).

Gold Rush Maisie - (Original Trailer) For the third of the series Ann Sothern becomes Gold Rush Maisie (1940) after her car breaks down in Arizona.

Girls! Girls! Girls! - (Original Trailer) Elvis is back in Hawaii and Stella Stevens and Laurel Goodwin are just two of the many Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962).

G.I. Blues - (Original Trailer) Elvis returned from his Army stint with a case of the G.I. Blues (1960). Featuring the hits "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Wooden Heart".

Bride Goes Wild, The -- (Re-issue Trailer) A womanizing author of children's books (Van Johnson) borrows a son to woo his illustrator in The Bride Goes Wild (1948).

Beginning or the End, The - (Original Trailer) Two years after the events, MGM recounts how the United States developed and dropped the atomic bomb in The Beginning or the End (1947).

Words And Music - (Original Trailer) Judy Garland, Lena Horne and Perry Como perform the songs of Rodgers and Hart in Words And Music (1948).

Bundle of Joy - (Original Trailer) A shop girl is mistaken for the mother of a foundling in the musical remake of Bachelor Mother, Bundle of Joy (1956), starring Eddie Fisher & Debbie Reynolds.

Family

Jackie Cooper

Nephew

Actor, director.

Companions

Susan Taurog

Wife

Maternal aunt of Jackie Cooper.

Bibliography

By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use