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David O. Selznick, (born May 10, 1902, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died June 22, 1965, Hollywood, California), American motion-picture producer who earned a reputation for commercially successful films of high artistic quality before and after World War II.

David O. Selznick was a son of the silent movie producer Lewis J. Selznick. David studied at Columbia University until his father lost his fortune in the 1920s. David started work as an MGM script reader, shortly followed by becoming an assistant to Harry Rapf. He left MGM to work at Paramount then RKO.

David O. Selznick ‘s Gone With The Wind received the most nominations with 13, winning eight Oscars, both records at the time. It was also year the first year in where any film received ten or more nominations ( Mr. Smith Goes To Washington received 11).

He became very close socially with the producer David O. Selznick and his wife Irene Goetz Selznick, the daughter of Louis B. Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The rest is history. Jock Whitney and his wife Liz. Jock had a nose for winners. Jock Whitney was already a major art collector at that young age (in his early 30s).

Gable was an almost immediate favorite for the role of Rhett with both the public and producer David O. Selznick. Since Selznick had no male stars under long-term contract, he needed to negotiate with another studio to borrow an actor. Gary Cooper was Selznick's first choice.

Davis expressed her desire to play Scarlett, and while David O. Selznick was conducting a search for the actress to play the role, a radio poll named her as the audience favorite. Warner offered her services to Selznick as part of a deal that also included Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland , but Selznick did not consider Davis as suitable ...

The typewritten list of actresses considered for producer David O. Selznick’s production of “Rebecca” (1940), for example, is priceless, with often snarky and misogynist descriptions by each...

Luckily Reed ignored the egregious advice of David Selznick (‘Who the hell is going to a film called The Third Man ?’), unearthed Anton Karas from a Viennese nightclub, talked the hypochondriac Welles into risking pneumonia in the sewers – and created what’s generally hailed as one of the few undisputed masterpieces of British cinema.