Winfield R. Sheehan (September 24, 1883 – July 25, 1945) was a film company executive. He was responsible for much of Fox Film Corporation's output during the 1920s and 1930s.
A native of Buffalo, New York, Sheehan served in the Spanish–American War as a teen. After working as a cub reporter he became a police reporter for New York's The Evening World in the early 1900s. In 1910, Sheehan became the fire commissioner's secretary and in 1911 performed similar duties for the police commissioner. In the latter capacity, he helped the newly established studio of William Fox, stay afloat in the face of increasing pressure to fold from the Motion Picture Patents Company, which routinely absorbed, intimidated, and ultimately destroyed most fledgling studios.
The Fox case played a vital role in the destruction of the Motion Picture Patents Company's absolute control. Afterward, Sheehan became William Fox's personal secretary and two years later became the studio's general manager and vice president. He then served as Fox's chief of production from 1926 until 1935 when the studio became part of 20th Century-Fox and was replaced by Darryl Zanuck. After that, Sheehan became an independent producer until his death in 1945.
winfield, sheehan, winfield, sheehan, september, 1883, july, 1945, film, company, executive, responsible, much, film, corporation, output, during, 1920s, 1930s, sheehan, 1919bornwinfield, sheehanseptember, 1883diedjuly, 1945, aged, spousekay, laurell, 1916, 19. Winfield R Sheehan September 24 1883 July 25 1945 was a film company executive He was responsible for much of Fox Film Corporation s output during the 1920s and 1930s Winfield SheehanSheehan in 1919BornWinfield R SheehanSeptember 24 1883DiedJuly 25 1945 aged 61 SpouseKay Laurell m 1916 1927 her death Children1 As studio head he won an Academy Award for Best Picture for the film Cavalcade and was nominated three more times Most famously he nurtured the budding stardom of then child star Shirley Temple in such films as Stand Up and Cheer and Curly Top 1 A native of Buffalo New York Sheehan served in the Spanish American War as a teen After working as a cub reporter he became a police reporter for New York s The Evening World in the early 1900s In 1910 Sheehan became the fire commissioner s secretary and in 1911 performed similar duties for the police commissioner In the latter capacity he helped the newly established studio of William Fox stay afloat in the face of increasing pressure to fold from the Motion Picture Patents Company which routinely absorbed intimidated and ultimately destroyed most fledgling studios The Fox case played a vital role in the destruction of the Motion Picture Patents Company s absolute control Afterward Sheehan became William Fox s personal secretary and two years later became the studio s general manager and vice president He then served as Fox s chief of production from 1926 until 1935 when the studio became part of 20th Century Fox and was replaced by Darryl Zanuck After that Sheehan became an independent producer until his death in 1945 References edit The Oscar SiteExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Winfield Sheehan Winfield Sheehan at IMDb nbsp This biographical article related to cinema of the United States is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Winfield Sheehan amp oldid 1148537353, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
