Paul Bern

From Wikipedia Paul Bern December 3 1889 September 5 1932 was a Germanborn American film director screenwriter and producer for MGM Bern was born Paul Levy in Wandsbek which was then a town in the Prussian province of SchleswigHolstein now a district of the city of Hamburg He was one of six children of Julius and Henriette née Hirsch Levy a Jewish couple Julius worked as a clerk for a shipping company before opening a candy store In 1898 Julius decided to move the family to the United States due to the rise of unemployment and antiJewish attitudes in Wandsbek The family eventually settled in New York City Julius Levy died in 1908 In 1920 Henriette Levy drowned herself Bern pursued a career in acting on the stage and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts He later adopted the stage name Paul Bern Bern soon realized he had little aptitude for acting and pursued other aspects of theatre production He worked as a stage manager for a time before moving to Hollywood in the early 1920s He was initially a film editor before he worked his way up to scenario writing and directing for United Artists and Paramount Pictures This led to his working fulltime as a producer at MetroGoldwynMayer the major studio of the time Bern eventually became the production assistant of Irving Thalberg The starstudded film Grand Hotel released six days after Berns death won the Best Picture Academy Award for 193132 Bern and Irving Thalberg produced the film although neither was listed in the film credits in the early 1930s MGM did not list their films producers in their credits However the award was presented solely to Thalberg and Bern was excluded Bern met actress Jean Harlow shortly before the premiere of Hells Angels in 1930 Bern was instrumental in helping Harlows career as he was the only person who took her seriously as an actress The two struck up a friendship and eventually began dating They announced their engagement in June 1932 and married on July 2 1932 Two months after marrying Jean Harlow on September 5 Bern was found dead from a gunshot to the head in their home on Easton Drive in Beverly Hills California The coroner ruled his death a suicide