A Utahn was one of the winners in the very first Academy Awards ceremony held in 1929.
Frank Borzage won the award for Best Director. His movie 7th Heaven changed the industry. He was credited with building Fox Studios into a major studio with the film.
He was a big deal, but you’ve probably never heard of him. Which is surprising in Utah because he was born in Sugar House into a family of 14 children. He worked in the mines in Park City before getting into the film industry.
He created the movie that the Library of Congress has now listed as one of the 75 most important films of all, not to mention his other films that won Academy Awards such as A Farewell to Arms and Humoresque, a box office winner starring Vera Gordon.
Oh, and the story gets better…the Cinematographer of A Farewell to Arms, Charles B. Lang, was also from Utah. He won the Oscar for his camera work.
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