| Hal B. Wallis | |
|---|---|
| Born | Harold Brent Wallis September 14, 1898 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | October 5, 1986 (aged 88) Rancho Mirage, California |
| Spouse | Louise Fazenda (1927-1962) (one son Brent) Martha Hyer (1966-1986) (his death) |
Hal B. Wallis (born Harold Brent Wallis; September 14, 1898 – October 5, 1986) was an American film producer.
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Harold Brent Wallis was born in Chicago in 1898. His family moved in 1922 to Los Angeles, California, where he found work as part of the publicity department at Warner Bros. in 1923.
Within a few years, Wallis became involved in the production end of the business and would eventually become head of production at Warners. In a career that spanned more than fifty years, he was involved with the production of more than 400 feature-length movies.
Among the many significant movies he produced was Casablanca, one of the most honored movies in Hollywood history. Wallis left Warner Bros. in 1944, after a clash with Jack Warner over Warner's acceptance of the Best Picture Oscar to Casablanca, to work as an independent producer, enjoying considerable success both commercially and critically. Among his financial hits were the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedies, and several of Elvis Presley's movies. He produced True Grit, for which John Wayne won the Academy Award for Best Actor of 1969
Hal Wallis received sixteen Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, winning for Casablanca in 1943. For his consistently high quality of motion picture production, he was twice honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. He was also nominated for seven Golden Globe awards, twice winning awards for Best Picture. In 1975, he received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures.
Hal Wallis was married twice, to actress Louise Fazenda (1927–1962) and to actress Martha Hyer (1966–1986).
He died in Rancho Mirage, California, aged 88. He is interred in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California.
Wallis was portrayed by actor Bill Lake in the 2002 CBS television film Martin and Lewis.
| Year | Award | Film | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931–32 | Outstanding Production | Five Star Final | Irving Thalberg – Grand Hotel |
| 1932–33 | I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang | Winfield Sheehan – Cavalcade | |
| 1934 | Flirtation Walk | Harry Cohn – It Happened One Night | |
| 1935 | Captain Blood | Irving Thalberg and Albert Lewin – Mutiny on the Bounty | |
| 1938 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Frank Capra – You Can't Take It With You | |
| Four Daughters | |||
| Jezebel | |||
| 1940 | All This, and Heaven Too | David O. Selznick – Rebecca | |
| The Letter | |||
| 1941 | Outstanding Motion Picture | The Maltese Falcon | Darryl F. Zanuck – How Green Was My Valley |
| One Foot in Heaven | |||
| Sergeant York | |||
| 1942 | Kings Row | Sidney Franklin – Mrs. Miniver | |
| Yankee Doodle Dandy | |||
| 1943 | Casablanca | Won | |
| Watch on the Rhine | Hal B. Wallis – Casablanca | ||
| 1955 | Best Motion Picture | The Rose Tattoo | Harold Hecht – Marty |
| 1964 | Best Picture | Becket | Jack Warner – My Fair Lady |
| 1969 | Anne of the Thousand Days | Jerome Hellman – Midnight Cowboy |
1938 and 1943 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Awards
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