Vincente Minnelli: Creative genius who revolutionised golden age of Hollywood cinema
Vincente Minnelli was a visionary film director whose extraordinary career spanned over four decades, shaping the golden age of Hollywood with his bold and innovative approach to cinema. Renowned for his dazzling musicals and distinctive visual style, Minnelli’s work remains a cornerstone of classic American filmmaking, blending artistic flair with a profound understanding of storytelling.
Let’s take a more detailed look into the life of the Hollywood icon.
Table of Content hide 1 Vincente Minnelli biography 2 Vincente Minnelli career 3 Vincente Minnelli movies 4 Vincente Minnelli’s net worth 5 Vincente Minnelli family 6 Vincente Minnelli age 7 Vincente Minnelli deathVincente Minnelli biography
Vincente Minnelli was born Lester Anthony Minnelli on February 28, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was the youngest of four children, though only two survived to adulthood. His mother, Marie Émilie Odile Lebeau, who performed on stage under the name Mina Gennell, was of French-Canadian descent and possibly had Anishinaabe roots. His father, Vincent Charles Minnelli, was involved in theatre, co-founding the Minnelli Brothers’ Tent Theater where he worked as a musical conductor.
Minnelli grew up in a family deeply involved in the performing arts. At three years old, he made his stage debut in East Lynne, alongside his mother. The family moved to Delaware, Ohio, where Minnelli attended St. Mary’s High School for three years before finishing his education at Willis High School. There, he participated in school productions like H.M.S. Pinafore and The Fortune Hunter.
After graduating high school, Minnelli began working as an apprentice window designer at Marshall Field’s department store in Chicago. He also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and worked as a costume designer for the Balaban and Katz theatre chain.
Minnelli was an American by nationality. His ethnic background included French-Canadian and possibly Anishinaabe heritage through his mother, while his paternal grandfather and grand-uncle were Sicilian revolutionaries who had fled Italy.
Minnelli was subjected to rumours about his sexual orientation all of his life. There was a lot of continuous rumour in the entertainment industry that he was gay or bisexual. Before relocating to Hollywood, where he was under pressure to fit in with the culture, Minnelli lived freely as a gay man in New York, according to biographer Emanuel Levy. This reportedly caused him to repress his actual personality.
According to Levy’s research, Minnelli consciously chose to either hide his sexuality or identify as bisexual when he moved to Hollywood. Furthermore, Minnelli’s acquaintance and store display designer Lester Gaba was rumoured to have had an affair with him, although Gaba was prone to inflating his tales.
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Vincente Minnelli career
After finishing high school, Minnelli relocated to Chicago. For a brief period, he resided with his aunt, Amy, and his maternal grandma, Le Beau. Minnelli went to Marshall Field’s department store with his portfolio of watercolour drawings in quest of employment. After observing his work, Arthur Valair Fraser, the display director of the company, employed him as an apprentice window dresser. Minnelli created ornate window decorations for Marshall Field’s that were seasonal. Originally assigned to design the men’s store, he was then asked to work on the windows along Wabash Avenue, which showcased antiques and furnishings.
To pursue a career in painting, Minnelli enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago. However, his work schedule and lack of interest in the material made it impossible for him to stay in school, so he dropped out.
A blind woman who rented stage props for a nearby theatre was introduced to Minnelli while she worked at Marshall Field’s. He accepted her invitation to join their acting company and read for a role in Where the Cross is Made by Eugene O’Neill. Minnelli painted sketches of theatre actors in his spare time, despite his dislike of performing. He made enough money to support himself by selling his paintings backstage. The photographer Paul Stone urged Minnelli to pursue photography at this time, pointing out that his creative abilities might be useful.
Minnelli quit his position at Marshall Field’s to work as an assistant photographer for Stone, a photographer specialising in society events and theatre stars. Minnelli gained experience in capturing the mood in photographs by taking a lot of pictures of celebrities. Minnelli took up Stone’s responsibilities after he had a breakdown, but he quickly recognised that photography was not his main love. Motivated by the paintings of Henri Matisse and Salvador Dalí, as well as the films of Luis Buñuel and Jean Cocteau, Minnelli started to concentrate on his artistic growth. To seem more cultured, he also changed his name from Lester to Vincente.
Next, Minnelli went up to the Chicago Theatre’s Frank Cambria and proposed that he take charge of his costume department. A. J. Balaban, whom Cambria referred him to, employed Minnelli as a set and costume designer. Minnelli was shocked to learn that the costumes department’s budget was quite tight for the theatre. Because of the theatre’s brief production runs, the sets and costumes were frequently reused.
Following the merger of Balaban and Katz with Paramount-Publix in 1931, Minnelli relocated to New York City and began a Broadway career. Admitted to the set designers’ union, he worked mostly on costumes and resided in a modest flat in Greenwich Village. His first project on Broadway was creating the show Curtain for the Vanities Revue, which opened up more opportunities for him to work on the Vanities and other shows.
Positive acclaim for Minnelli’s work led to an invitation to oversee art direction for the operetta The Dubarry. Even when Paramount-Publix filed for bankruptcy, Minnelli kept working on theatre plays. In addition, he was a set designer at Radio City Music Hall, where his art direction was acknowledged.
Coast to Coast, Minnelli’s first stage production as a producer, was a hit in 1934. Lee Shubert then made him an offer to become a director, which caused him to quit Radio City Music Hall. With the Broadway musical At Home Abroad, Minnelli made his directorial debut. After receiving recognition for his efforts on this performance, he went on to direct and design musicals, such as The Show Must Go On and the 1936 Ziegfeld Follies.
In 1937, Minnelli was briefly under contract with Paramount Pictures, lured by Hollywood’s interest in his Broadway success. He was offered $2,500 a week and began work on Times Squares, a mystery film set on Broadway. Minnelli proposed innovative ideas like a surrealist ballet and a musical film in collaboration with Kurt Weill, but these projects did not move forward due to a lack of interest from Paramount executives.
Minnelli also contributed to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ film, Shall We Dance, and consulted on Raoul Walsh’s artists and models, creating the “Public Melody No. 1” number.
After six months, Minnelli left Paramount and returned to Broadway. He directed Hooray for What!, which featured Ed Wynn. The production received positive reviews from Life and Time magazines for its humour and Minnelli’s direction. He then worked on several other projects, including the development of The Light Fantastic, a surrealist fantasy, and a musicalisation of S. N. Behrman’s Serena Blandish, which he eventually abandoned.
Minnelli’s next project, Very Warm for May, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, premiered in 1939. While the first act was well-received, the second act faced criticism for its confusion.
He also partnered with William Saroyan on a black surrealist musical comedy, but Saroyan exited the project. In the spring of 1940, Arthur Freed convinced Minnelli to join MGM, where he was offered $300 a week.
Minnelli began working at MGM on April 2, 1940. Early in his MGM career, he consulted on various projects, including Norman Z. McLeod’s Lady Be Good and the musical numbers for Panama Hattie. He suggested creative ideas for films like Strike Up the Band and Babes on Broadway, though not all were adopted.
Minnelli’s significant project at MGM was directing Cabin in the Sky (1943), based on the 1940 Broadway musical. Despite some production challenges, including the removal of a controversial musical number, the film was a commercial success, earning $1.6 million at the box office.
Minnelli remained at MGM for the next 26 years, becoming a key figure in the studio’s musical and film productions. His early work included directing numerous Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland films, often under the guidance of Busby Berkeley. His first major directorial assignment at MGM was Cabin in the Sky (1943), a groundbreaking film featuring an all-black cast.
Following this, Minnelli directed Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), an ambitious period piece. Throughout his career, Minnelli directed a diverse range of films, including the classic musical The Band Wagon (1953), melodramas like Some Came Running (1958) and urban comedies such as Designing Woman (1957). Known for his innovative use of Technicolor, Minnelli often incorporated elaborate dream sequences into his films, demonstrating a unique style and versatility in his work.
His direction of the film Gigi earned him the Academy Award for “Best Director” in 1959. His films were also frequently nominated for and won various other Academy Awards, making him a significant figure in the film industry’s most prestigious honours.
In addition to his Oscar win, Minnelli was also voted the 20th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly and served as a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967.
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Vincente Minnelli movies
Here is an outline of Minnelli’s directorial works, according to IMDb.
Vincente Minnelli’s net worth
At the time of his death, Minnelli’s estate was valued at slightly over $1.1 million.
Vincente Minnelli family
Minnelli’s personal life was marked by four marriages.
His first marriage to Judy Garland, a celebrated actress and singer, took place on June 15, 1945. They had a daughter, Liza Minnelli, born on March 12, 1946. However, their marriage faced numerous challenges, including Garland’s struggles with mental health and substance abuse, leading to their separation and eventual divorce on March 29, 1951. Garland retained custody of their daughter.
Minnelli’s second marriage was to Georgette Martell on February 1, 1954. Martell was the sister of Christiane Martel, who had won the Miss Universe title in 1953. Minnelli and Martell had a daughter, Christiane Nina Minnelli, born on May 20, 1955. Their marriage ended in divorce on January 1, 1958, after a few years of marital difficulties.
In 1962, Minnelli married Denise Hale, also known as Danica Radosavljević Gay Giulianelli de Gigante. Hale, a Yugoslavian-born woman, and Minnelli worked together on various projects through their production company, Venice Productions. Despite their professional successes, their marriage ended in divorce in August 1971, amid rumours of Hale’s infidelity.
Minnelli’s fourth marriage was to Lee Anderson on April 1, 1980. Lee, who had been Minnelli’s companion for many years before their marriage, remained with him until his death on July 25, 1986. Anderson had been a supportive partner throughout Minnelli’s later years.
Vincente Minnelli age
Minnelli was 83 years old at the time of his death.
Vincente Minnelli death
Vincente Minnelli passed away on July 25, 1986. His death occurred in his Beverly Hills home, a place he had long cherished. Minnelli’s final year was marred by severe health issues, including emphysema and pneumonia. These conditions led to repeated hospitalisations, reflecting the toll they had taken on his frail body.
The disease had significantly impaired Minnelli’s breathing, while pneumonia added further complications, leading to his eventual demise. Despite the medical interventions and the pacemaker fitted to aid his heart, his health continued to deteriorate.
He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, a fitting resting place for a man whose life was so intricately woven into the fabric of American film history.
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