Editing King Vidor (section)

==Early life and career==
Vidor was born into a well-to-do family in [[Galveston, Texas]], the son of Kate (née Wallis) and Charles Shelton Vidor, a lumber importer and mill owner. His grandfather, Károly Charles Vidor, was a refugee of the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848]], who settled in Galveston in the early 1850s.<ref>Thomson, 2007: "His father was a well-off lumberman..."<br />Baxter, 1976, pp. 4–5: His father "a dealer in South American lumber" at time of Vidor's birth.<br />Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p. 19: His father "owned a hardwood forest in the [[Dominican Republic]] ... quite prosperous at the time of Vidor's birth...but soon after, his [father's] fortunes declined&nbsp;..."</ref> Vidor's mother, Kate Wallis, of Scotch-English descent, was a relative of the second wife of noted frontiersman and politician [[Davy Crockett]].<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p 19: Index lists Vidor's mother as "Kate", not Katherine. Elizabeth Crockett was Vidor's maternal great-grandmother. On Vidor's Crockett ancestry see this link: https://medium.com/save-texas-history/honoring-a-widow-of-the-alamo-elizabeth-crocketts-land-legacy-d364da8f8f0b Retrieved June 22, 2020.</ref> The "King" in King Vidor is no sobriquet, but his given name in honor of his mother's favorite brother, King Wallis.<ref>Baxter 1976, p. 4</ref><ref>Gallagher, 2007; Mother was "Scotch-Irish"</ref>

At the age of six, Vidor witnessed the devastation of the [[Galveston Hurricane of 1900]]. Based on that formative experience, he published a historical memoir of the disaster titled "Southern Storm" for the May 1935 issue of ''Esquire'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/02/obituaries/king-vidor-88-director-of-films-for-more-than-40-years-is-dead.html|title=King Vidor, 88, Director of Films for More Than 40 Years, Is Dead|first=Peter B.|last=Flint|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 2, 1982}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Larson, Erik|year=1999|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/features/isaacsstorm/book/index.html|title=Isaac's Storm|publisher=[[Random House]] Publishing|isbn= 0-609-60233-0|author-link=Erik Larson (author)}}</ref> In an interview with the [[Directors Guild of America]] (DGA) in 1980 Vidor recalled the horrors of the hurricane's effects:

{{blockquote|All the wooden structures of the town were flattened&nbsp;... [t]he streets were piled high with dead people, and I took the first tugboat out. On the boat I went up into the bow and saw that the bay was filled with dead bodies, horses, animals, people, everything.<ref name="Thomson, 2007">Thomson, 2007</ref>}}

Near the end of production for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'', Vidor was called in to direct the remaining scenes set in Kansas. His contributions include the cyclone sequence and the musical number, "[[Over the Rainbow]]."<ref name="Thomson, 2007">Thomson, 2007</ref>

Vidor was introduced to [[Mary Baker Eddy]]'s [[Christian Science]] by his mother at a very early age. Vidor would endow his films with the moral precepts of the faith, a "blend of pragmatic self-help and religious mysticism."<ref>Baxter 1976, p. 5<br />Thomson, 2007: "his mother raised Vidor as a Christian Scientist. The philosophy of Mary Baker Eddy had a lifelong effect on his work – he took her few good ideas and extrapolated a metaphysical philosophy of his own..."<br />Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p 309: Vidor's films "suggest a consistent distrust of Christianity, whether established or inspired."</ref>

Vidor attended grade school at the [[Peacock Military Academy]], located in San Antonio, Texas.<ref>Baxter, 1976, p. 5: Vidor remarked that he "hated" the institution.</ref>

[[File:The Family Honor (1920) - 3.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0|Vidor featured in the February 21, 1920, issue of ''[[Exhibitors Herald]]'']]