Richard Thorpe (February 24, 1896 - May 1, 1991) was an American film director. Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, he began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and onstage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more than one hundred and eighty films. The first full length motion picture he directed for MGM was Last of the Pagans (1935) starring Ray Mala. After directing The Last Challenge in 1967, he retired from the film industry. He died in Palm Springs, California in 1991. Thorpe is also known as the original director of The Wizard of Oz. He was fired after two weeks of shooting, because it was felt that his scenes did not have the right air of fantasy about them. Thorpe notoriously gave Judy Garland a blonde wig and cutesy "baby-doll" makeup that made her look like a girl in her late teens rather than an innocent Kansas farm girl of about thirteen. Both makeup and wig were discarded at the suggestion of George Cukor, who was brought in temporarily. Stills from Thorpe's work on the film survive today. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Thorpe has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Blvd. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Double Wedding
(Director)
Above Suspicion
(Director)
Ivanhoe
(Director)
King of the Wild
(Director)
The Honeymoon Machine
(Director)
Tarzan Finds a Son!
(Director)
Tarzan's New York Adventure
(Director)
Tarzan's Secret Treasure
(Director)
The Prisoner of Zenda
(Director)
Black Hand
(Director)
The Thin Man Goes Home
(Director)
Three Little Words
(Director)
Vengeance Valley
(Director)
Challenge to Lassie
(Director)
On an Island with You
(Director)
Thrill of a Romance
(Director)
This Time for Keeps
(Director)
That Funny Feeling
(Director)
Carbine Williams
(Director)
Malaya
(Director)
Fiesta
(Director)
Jailhouse Rock
(Director)
Tarzan Escapes
(Director)
The Vanishing West
(Director)
The Student Prince
(Director)
Fun in Acapulco
(Director)
Her Highness and the Bellboy
(Director)
Three Loves Has Nancy
(Director)
The Unknown Man
(Director)
The House of the Seven Hawks
(Director)
Cry 'Havoc'
(Director)
Two Girls and a Sailor
(Director)
Follow the Boys
(Director)
Knights of the Round Table
(Director)
The Girl Who Had Everything
(Director)
It's a Big Country
(Director)
All the Brothers Were Valiant
(Director)
Night Must Fall
(Director)
Quentin Durward
(Director)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(Director)
Joe Smith, American
(Director)
The Last Challenge
(Director)
The Last Challenge
(Producer)
Green Eyes
(Director)
A Date with Judy
(Director)
White Cargo
(Director)
The Great Caruso
(Director)
Apache Trail
(Director)
Athena
(Director)
Wild Horse
(Director)
The Horizontal Lieutenant
(Director)
Tip on a Dead Jockey
(Director)
Secret of the Chateau
(Director)
The Sun Comes Up
(Director)
Bedevilled
(Director)
The Earl of Chicago
(Director)
Cross-Examination
(Director)
Murder at Dawn
(Director)
Grief Street
(Director)
The King Murder
(Director)
The Prodigal
(Director)
The Voice of Bugle Ann
(Director)
The Desert of the Lost
(Director)
Forgotten
(Director)
The Toy Wife
(Director)
Ten Thousand Bedrooms
(Director)
The Lone Defender
(Director)
The Bad Man
(Director)
Murder on the Campus
(Director)
Wyoming
(Director)
Big Jack
(Director)
The Truth About Spring
(Director)
20 Mule Team
(Director)
Notorious But Nice
(Director)
The Tartars
(Director)
Barnacle Bill
(Director)
Man-Proof
(Director)
The Midnight Lady
(Director)
Killers of Kilimanjaro
(Director)
Probation
(Director)
What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
(Director)
Rainbow Over Broadway
(Director)
Border Romance
(Director)
Love Is a Headache
(Director)
City Park
(Director)
The First Hundred Years
(Director)
Women Won't Tell
(Director)
The King of the Kongo
(Director)
Slightly Married
(Director)
Grief Street
(Editor)
The Crowd Roars
(Director)
A Man of Sentiment
(Director)
Beauty Parlor
(Director)
I Have Lived
(Director)
Stolen Sweets
(Director)
The Scorpio Letters
(Director)
The Scorpio Letters
(Producer)
Three Hearts for Julia
(Director)
The Lady from Nowhere
(Director)
The Lady from Nowhere
(Editor)
The Secrets of Wu Sin
(Director)
Dangerous Number
(Director)
Forgotten Women
(Director)
The Utah Kid
(Director)
Wings of Adventure
(Director)
Under Montana Skies
(Director)
The Thoroughbred
(Director)
The Ridin' Rowdy
(Director)
The Ridin' Rowdy
(Writer)
The Ballyhoo Buster
(Director)
The Ballyhoo Buster
(Writer)
Tearin' Into Trouble
(Director)
The Meddlin' Stranger
(Director)
Vultures of the Sea
(Director)
The Fatal Warning
(Director)
Tearin' Loose
(Writer)
Strange People
(Director)
The Golden Head
(Director)
Lest We Forget
(Director)
Strange Wives
(Director)
The Quitter
(Director)
Last of the Pagans
(Director)
Thrill of Youth
(Director)
Cheating Cheaters
(Director)
College Days
(Director)
The Devil Plays
(Director)
Easy Going
(Director)
How the West Was Won
(Special Guest Director)
Neck and Neck
(Director)
Escapade
(Director)
The Bachelor Girl
(Director)
The Desert of the Lost
(Writer)
The Sky Spider
(Director)
The Dude Wrangler
(Director)
The Valley Of Hunted Men
(Director)
The Valley Of Hunted Men
(Writer)
On the Go
(Director)
On the Go
(Writer)
Josselyn's Wife
(Director)
Fast and Fearless
(Director)
Bringin' Home the Bacon
(Director)
Thundering Romance
(Director)
Tearin' Loose
(Director)
The Roaring Rider
(Director)
The Fighting Cheat
(Director)
Ridin' Rivals
(Director)
Double Daring
(Director)
Twisted Triggers
(Director)
The Flyin' Buckaroo
(Director)
The Devil Plays
(Editor)
Double Daring
(Writer)
The Flyin' Buckaroo
(Writer)
The Lawless Woman
(Director)
The Bonanza Buckaroo
(Director)