Playwright, motion picture executive, and activist Dore Schary was born Isidore Schary on
August 31, 1905 in Newark, New Jersey. After dropping out of school at age fourteen Schary
worked in a number of jobs including operating his parents' catering business and serving as
publicity man for Admiral Byrd. Schary returned to school, completing four years of school
in ten months and graduating from Newark Central High in 1923. Schary became a reporter for
the Newark Call. During the same period he
became involved in little theater productions as an actor and director. Eventually he joined
a stock company in Cincinnati, then moved to New York City where he debuted as an actor in
1930 and tried his hand at playwriting.
In 1932 one of Schary's unproduced efforts attracted the attention of Walter Wanger who
offered him a job as a screenwriter with Columbia Pictures. Schary later turned to
freelancing for other studios and independent producers, and in 1937 his first play was
produced on Broadway. Back in Hollywood he wrote Boys Town for MGM for which he received an Oscar in 1938. Subsequent successes,
including an Oscar for Edison the Man,
earned Schary a promotion as head of the low budget unit at MGM. Between 1941 and 1943 he
oversaw two dozen productions including Joe Smith,
American and Lassie Come
Home.
Creative disagreements led to Schary's move to head David Selznick's independent company
Vanguard Pictures, and from 1943 to 1946 he personally produced five highly successful
pictures: I'll Be Seeing You, The Spiral Staircase, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, The Farmer's Daughter, and Til the End of Time. In 1947 he became studio production head at
RKO. During a year and a half period, often considered the most creative of his career,
Schary released Crossfire, The Boy with Green Hair, I Remember Mama, Mr.
Blandings Builds His Dream House, and many other titles.
In 1948 Howard Hughes bought controlling interest in RKO, and soon after in order to retain
his creative independence Schary returned to MGM as vice-president in charge of production.
In his first years Schary restored MGM's former prestige, and his films achieved both box
office success and Oscar-winning recognition. During this period he oversaw productions such
as The Stratton Story, Adam's Rib, An American in Paris, Show Boat, and Singin' in the
Rain. At the same time he personally produced Battleground, The Next
Voice You Hear, Westward the
Women, Bad Day at Black Rock, and
Designing Woman. After the departure of
Louis B. Mayer in 1951 Schary was named head of the studio. In his eight years at the studio
MGM released over 270 pictures, and Schary earned a personal reputation for his willingness
to challenge conventional Hollywood wisdom concerning subject matter appropriate for
films.
Beginning in the late 1930s Schary had also become active in the Anti-Defamation League and
the Democratic Party. In 1940 he chaired the Hollywood for Roosevelt Committee. These
liberal associations continued during Schary's years as a studio executive. Although he
signed the so-called Waldorf Conference Statement in 1947, he did not abide by the
conference's decision to blacklist the "Hollywood Ten." During the 1950s Schary was a
leading supporter of Adlai Stevenson. Political differences with the more conservative
studio leadership apparently contributed to Schary's controversial dismissal from MGM in
1956.
Returning to his earlier interest in writing, Schary wrote and staged the Tony
Award-winning hit Sunrise at Campobello in
1958. Two years later he wrote and produced the Warner Bros. film version. In subsequent
years Schary devoted most of his creative energy to the theater, with productions such as
Act One, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Devil's Advocate, and the semi-autobiographical Banderol. He also served as head of Theatre
Vision Inc. and in 1973 formed Schary Productions in an abortive attempt to return to
filmmaking.
Schary's civic activities continued throughout his life. He served as national chairman of
the Anti-Defamation League and was commissioner of cultural affairs for New York City. He
was also a popular public speaker. Schary died of cancer on July 7, 1980. He was survived by
his wife Miriam Svet Schary, a noted painter, and three children: Jill Robinson, Joy
Stashower, and Jeb Schary.
