Editing Irving Thalberg (section)

== Death ==
Thalberg and Shearer took a much-needed Labor Day weekend vacation in Monterey, California, in 1936 (Labor Day fell on September 7 that year), staying at the same beachfront hotel where they spent their honeymoon. A few weeks earlier, Thalberg's leading screenwriter, [[Albert Lewin]], had proposed doing a film based on a soon-to-be published book, ''[[Gone with the Wind (novel)|Gone with the Wind]]''. Although Thalberg said it would be a "sensational" role for Gable, and a "terrific picture," he decided not to do it:

{{blockquote|Look, I have just made ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' and ''The Good Earth''. And now you're asking me to burn Atlanta? No! Absolutely not! No more epics for me now. Just give me a little drawing-room drama. I'm tired. I'm just too tired.<ref name=Thomas />{{rp|2909}}}}

Besides, Thalberg told Mayer, "[n]o Civil War picture ever made a nickel".{{r|friedrich1997}} Shortly after returning from Monterey, Thalberg was diagnosed with pneumonia while on the set of [[A Day at the Races (film)|''A Day at the Races'']]. His condition worsened steadily, and he eventually required an oxygen tent at home. He died on September 14, at the age of 37.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=I. G. Thalberg Dies, Film Producer, 37. 'Boy Wonder' of Hollywood Was Called Most Brilliant Figure in His Field. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 15, 1936}}</ref>

[[Sam Wood]], while directing ''A Day at the Races'', was given the news by phone. He returned to the set with tears in his eyes and told the others. As the news spread, "the studio was paralyzed with shock", notes Thomas.<ref name=Thomas />{{rp|293}} "Work stopped and hundreds of people wept", with stars, writers, directors, and studio employees "all sharing a sense of loss at the death of a man who had been a part of their working lives", states Flamini.<ref name=Flamini />{{rp|271}}

His funeral took place two days later, and when the services began the other studios throughout Hollywood observed five minutes of silence. Producer [[Sam Goldwyn]] "wept uncontrollably for two days" and was unable to regain his composure enough to attend.<ref name=Thomas />{{rp|293}} The MGM studio closed for that day.

{{quote box|align=left|width=25em|bgcolor = Mistyrose|quote=The passing of Irving Thalberg is the greatest conceivable loss to the motion-picture industry, and I say that absolutely without qualification. There are hundreds of executives but only about six men with the genuine genius for making motion pictures and Mr. Thalberg was the greatest of those. I have long considered him the most competent and inspired producer in the business.|source= —director and producer [[Cecil B. DeMille]]<ref name=LAT-obit />}}

Services were held at the [[Wilshire Boulevard Temple]] that Thalberg had occasionally attended. The funeral attracted thousands of spectators who came to view the arrival of countless stars from MGM and other studios, including [[Greta Garbo]], [[Jean Harlow]], the [[Marx Brothers]], [[Charlie Chaplin]], [[Walt Disney]], [[Howard Hughes]], [[Al Jolson]], [[Gary Cooper]], [[Carole Lombard]], [[Mary Pickford]], and [[Douglas Fairbanks]], among the screen luminaries. The ushers who led them to their seats included [[Clark Gable]], [[Fredric March]], and playwright [[Moss Hart]]. [[Erich von Stroheim]], who had been fired by Thalberg, came to pay his respects. Producers Louis B. Mayer, the Warner brothers, Adolph Zukor, and Nicholas Schenck sat together solemnly as Rabbi Magnin gave the eulogy.<ref name=Flamini />{{rp|272}}<ref name=Thomas />{{rp|297}}

Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in [[Glendale, California]], lying at rest beside his wife, Norma Shearer Thalberg Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).

Over the following days, tributes were published by the national press. [[Louis B. Mayer]], his co-founding partner at [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]], said he had lost "the finest friend a man could ever have", while MGM president [[Nicholas Schenck]] stated that "Thalberg was the most important man in the production end of the motion-picture industry."<ref name=Flamini />{{rp|273}} Leading producers from the other studios also expressed their feelings in published tributes to Thalberg:<ref name=obit />

[[David O. Selznick]] described him as "beyond any question the greatest individual force for fine pictures." [[Samuel Goldwyn]] called him "the foremost figure in the motion-picture industry ... and an inspiration." M.&nbsp;H.&nbsp;Aylesworth, Chairman of RKO, wrote that "his integrity, vision and ability made him the spearhead of all motion-picture production throughout the world." [[Harry Warner]], president of Warner Bros., described him as "gifted with one of the finest minds ever placed at the service of motion-picture production." Sidney R. Kent, president of Twentieth Century Fox, said that "he made the whole world richer by giving it the highest type of entertainment. He was a true genius." Columbia president [[Harry Cohn]] said the "motion picture industry has suffered a loss from which it will not soon recover...". [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] noted, "More than any other man he raised the industry to its present world prestige." [[Adolph Zukor]], chairman of Paramount, stated, "Irving Thalberg was the most brilliant young man in the motion picture business." [[Jesse Lasky]] said, "It will be utterly impossible to replace him."<ref name=obit /><ref name=Thomas />{{rp|294}}

Among the condolences that came from world political leaders, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] wrote, "The world of art is poorer with the passing of Irving Thalberg. His high ideals, insight and imagination went into the production of his masterpieces."<ref name=Thomas />{{rp|297}}

Among the pictures that were unfinished or not yet released at the time of his death were ''A Day at the Races'', ''The Good Earth'', ''Camille'', ''Maytime'', and ''Romeo and Juliet''. Groucho Marx, star of ''A Day at the Races'', wrote, "After Thalberg's death, my interest in the movies waned. I continued to appear in them, but ... The fun had gone out of picture making."<ref name=Vieira-1 />{{rp|379}} Thalberg's widow, Norma Shearer, recalled, "Grief does very strange things to you. I didn't seem to feel the shock for two weeks afterwards. ... then, at the end of those two weeks, I collapsed."<ref name=Vieira-1 />{{rp|379}}