- Walter Connolly,The Good Earth, 1936. Among those in the mix for Uncle in producer Irving Thalberg’s version of Pearl S Buck’s best-seller were Barbier, Hal K Dawson and J Carrol Naish. This was the only film with a credit for MGM’s in-house genius, Irving Thalberg – tragically dead at 37. His boss, LB Mayer, had told him: “The public won’t buy pictures about American farmers, and you want to give them Chinese farmers?” Thalberg, as usual, was right – three Oscars from six nominations!
Birth year: 1864Death year: 1945Other name: Casting Calls: 1