Victor Fleming |
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Victor Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) (sometimes "Vic Fleming") was an Academy Award-winning American film director.
Victor Fleming was born in Pasadena, California, possibly of part Native American descent and showed a mechanical aptitude early on; while working as a car mechanic he met the director Allan Dwan, who took him on as a camera assistant. Given his aptitude, he developed an interest in airplanes, and for his movies got to know the men at Rogers Airport, Los Angeles, including Moye Stephens. Fleming soon rose to the rank of cinematographer, working with both Dwan and D. W. Griffith, and directed his first film in 1919.
Many of Fleming's silent films were action movies, often starring Douglas Fairbanks, or Westerns, and with his robust attitude and love of outdoor sports he became known as a "man's director". But he also proved an effective director of women. Under his direction, Vivien Leigh won the Best Actress Oscar, Hattie McDaniel won for Best Supporting Actress, and Ingrid Bergman was nominated. (In fact, nine actors who appeared in films directed by Fleming were Oscar-nominated.)