George Peppard : MGM

MGM

MGM signed Peppard to a 7 year contract. That was in the days when MGM was the greatest studio in Hollywood, and they had a great PR department. Peppard starred in Vincente Minnel's great saga Home From The Hill and with Leslie Caron in The Subterreans ( with another MGM star Jim Hutton in a small role). Onward to the loanout to Paramount for Breakfast at Tiffany's and major stardom! Then back to MGM for the lead role in How The West Was Won and MGM's pr deparatment went wild over Peppard and soon he was a major star. More loanouts to Columbia for Carl Foreman's The Victors with Albert Finney and Melina Mecouri and then back to Paramount for the smash hit movie of his career The Carpetbaggers where Peppard met and married Liz Ashley. MGM which by that time realized the star they created demanded one more movie from Peppard and thus Peppard starred in a rousing MGM war film Operation Crossbow with Sophia Loren.

At MGM they assigned him Spencer Tracy's old dressing room such was the buildup. Peppard at MGM worked with John Ford, Henry Hathaway, Vincente Minneli, and on loan with Carl Foreman. Major Stars he worked with in films were Sophia Loren, John Wayne,Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Leslie Caron, et al. What I am saying that Peppard was groomed from the get go to be a major star. Peppard's former wife Liz Ashely attributed his decline in later years to his money problems and drinking.
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