Paul Gregory (producer)

Paul Gregory (August 27, 1920 – December, 2015) was an American film, theatre and television producer.

Paul Gregory was the son of a butcher and graduated from Lincoln High School in Des Moines, Iowa in 1938. Gregory went to Hollywood where he worked as an assistant for clients like Horace Heidt and Carmen Cavallaro. He became friends with actor Charles Laughton and they made a successful lecture through America between 1949 and 1950. They earned $200,000 during this reading tour. Gregory afterwards produced numerous Broadway plays during the 1950s and 1960s, among them The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, The Marriage Go-Around and Lord Pengo.

Gregory read the novel The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb and bought the film rights of Grubb's book. He then produced the important thriller The Night of the Hunter (1955), directed by Laughton and considered by many film critics as a masterpiece. His second and last movie as a producer was The Naked and the Dead (1958). As a television producer, he won a Emmy Award in 1955 for Best Television Adaptation for his television adaption of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Paul Gregory married former film star Janet Gaynor in 1964. At the large ranch of his wife, Gregory raised cows, hogs and pigeons.

Gregory was also responsible for starting the acting career of his friend James Garner. He gave Garner his first acting role in his production of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.

Paul Gregory and Gaynor were involved in a very serious car accident in 1982, two years later Gaynor died as a result of her injuries in this accident. After the death of Gaynor, Gregory married art gallerist Kathryn Obergfel. Paul Gregory lived in Desert Hot Springs, just north of Palm Springs, California. Gregory died in December 2015 at the age of 95.