Editing Irving Thalberg (section)

== Cultural legacy ==
=== ''The Last Tycoon'' ===
In October 1939, American novelist [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] began writing ''[[The Last Tycoon]]'', a fictionalized biography of Thalberg, naming the protagonist Monroe Stahr to represent Thalberg. "Thalberg has always fascinated me", he wrote to an editor. "His peculiar charm, his extraordinary good looks, his bountiful success, the tragic end of his great adventure. The events I have built around him are fiction, but all of them are things which might very well have happened. ... I've long chosen him for a hero (this has been in my mind for three years) because he is one of the half-dozen men I have known who were built on a grand scale."<ref name=Thomas />{{rp|8}}

Thomas notes that among the reasons Fitzgerald chose to write a book about a Thalberg-like character, was that "throughout his literary career, Fitzgerald borrowed his heroes from friends he admired, and inevitably a bit of Fitzgerald entered the characterizations." Fitzgerald himself writes that "When I like men, I want to be like them ..." Fitzgerald and Thalberg had real-life similarities: both were prodigies, both had heart ailments, and they both died at early ages.<ref name=Thomas />{{rp|8}}

According to biographer [[Matthew J. Bruccoli]], Fitzgerald believed that Thalberg, with his "taste and courage, represented the best of Hollywood. ... [and] saw Thalberg as a model for what could be done in the movies."<ref name=Bruccoli /> Fitzgerald died before the novel was completed, however. Bruccoli writes of Fitzgerald's book:

{{blockquote|Nurturing a heroic sense of American character, he found his essential American figure in his last novel. ... So thorough was Fitzgerald's identification with his hero that Stahr stands among the most compelling Jewish characters in American fiction.<ref name=Bruccoli />}}

Although parallels between Monroe Stahr in the novel and Thalberg were evident, many who knew Thalberg intimately stated that they did not see similarities in their personalities.<ref name=Thomas />{{rp|13}} Norma Shearer said that the Stahr character was not at all like her late husband.<ref name=Bruccoli>Bruccoli, Matthew J. ''Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald'', Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1981) pp. 466–468</ref>

In the 1976 [[The Last Tycoon (1976 film)|film version]], directed by [[Elia Kazan]], Monroe Stahr was played by [[Robert De Niro]]. Kazan, in his pre-production notes, described the Stahr character as he saw him:

{{blockquote|Stahr is special, unique, monastic, a relic. He walks alone. Occasionally men follow him waiting for orders. He is in a daze of work and thought. He carries the whole studio operation in his head.<ref>Kazan, Elia. ''Kazan on Directing'', Random House (2009) p. 229</ref>}}

In the [[The Last Tycoon (TV series)|2016 television series]] based on the novel, Monroe Stahr is played by [[Matt Bomer]].

=== Others ===
Fitzgerald also based his short story "[[Crazy Sunday]]", originally published in the October 1932 issue of ''[[American Mercury]]'', on an incident at a party thrown by Thalberg and Shearer. The story is included in Fitzgerald's collection ''[[Taps at Reveille]]'' (1935).

Thalberg was portrayed in the movie ''[[Man of a Thousand Faces (film)|Man of a Thousand Faces]]'' (1957) by [[Robert Evans]], who went on to become a studio head himself.

Thalberg is parodied as ''Irving C. Saltzberg Jnr.'' in the sketch ''20th Century Vole'' in episode 6 of [[Monty Python's Flying Circus]].  Unlike the real-life publicity-shy Thalberg, Saltzberg is obsessed with controlling (and being credited for) every single bit of a production, including writing, directing and producing, and this is likewise reflected in the closing credits (which immediately follow the sketch) for the episode.  The episode is also announced as "'''An Irving C. Saltzberg Productions Ltd. and Saltzberg Art Films, Oil, Real Estate, Banking and Prostitution Inc. Co-Production.'''"

Thalberg was portrayed by Bill Cusack in ''Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies'' (1994), a TV film based on ''[[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles]]'', in which [[Indiana Jones (character)|Indiana Jones]] is depicted as taking part in Thalberg's conflict with Erich von Stroheim over ''Foolish Wives''.

In 2020, Thalberg is played by [[Ferdinand Kingsley]] in the [[David Fincher]] film ''[[Mank]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-10|title='Mank' star says one shot with Gary Oldman took 50 takes|url=https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/film/mank-star-says-one-shot-with-gary-oldman-took-50-takes-2836220|access-date=2020-12-22|website=NME {{!}} Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News|language=en}}</ref> [[Max Minghella]] portrays him in [[Damien Chazelle]]'s 2022 film ''[[Babylon (2022 film)|Babylon]]''.