Irene was born in Brooklyn, the younger of two sisters born to film producer Louis B. Mayer and his first wife, Margaret Shenberg. Her sister, Edith, was nicknamed "Edie." Edith married William Goetz in March 1930, who became the vice president of 20th Century Fox in 1941 and later became the head of production at Universal-International. Selznick's paternal and maternal grandparents were Belarusian Jews who immigrated to Canada in the 1880s from Vilnius and Kaunas. The Mayer family initially lived in Haverhill, Massachusetts and then moved to Hollywood in 1918. It was there that her father established Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, one of the more successful film studios of its time. She attended Hollywood School for Girls, a private school in Los Angeles.
Marriage and career
Mayer married producer David O. Selznick in 1930. Her husband came from an extremely dysfunctional but talented family, and he was one of the few men who stimulated her intellect. During the marriage, Selznick acted as a hostess to the couple's Hollywood parties. The couple frequently socialized with Hollywood stars, including Ingrid Bergman, Janet Gaynor, and Katharine Hepburn. Selznick was also an executive at her husband's production company. Selznick also did volunteer and charity work and worked as a probation officer for juveniles for Los Angeles County during World War II. After separating from her husband in 1945, Selznick moved to New York City where she pursued her love of the theatre. In 1947, she worked with playwright Tennessee Williams and director Elia Kazan and produced her first play, A Streetcar Named Desire, which gave Marlon Brando his break-out role. The play's success brought her a great deal of respect, and she produced four more plays, among them 1955's The Chalk Garden for which she received a Tony Award nomination. She retired in 1961. Considered by her peers within the entertainment industry as one of the foremost historians of Hollywood and Broadway, Selznick published her autobiography A Private View in 1983.
Personal life
Mayer and Selznick had two sons, Lewis Jeffrey and Daniel Selznick, both of whom became film producers. Daniel married Susan Warms Dryfoos, daughter of Orvil E. Dryfoos. However, David O. Selznick's constant philandering and frequent financial problems as a result of a gambling addiction led to their growing apart, which resulted in her leaving Selznick in 1945. Their divorce was finalized on January 22, 1949.
