---
name: "Sam Zimbalist"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sam-zimbalist"
fi1m_id: "sam-zimbalist"
imdb_id: "nm0956547"
tmdb_id: 10004
wikidata_id: "Q1362717"
roles: ["Producer"]
born: "31 March 1904"
died: "4 November 1958"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 71
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T02:12:38.996247+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Sam Zimbalist

## Identity

Sam Zimbalist

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sam-zimbalist
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** sam-zimbalist
- **IMDb ID:** nm0956547
- **TMDB ID:** 10004
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1362717
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Zimbalist, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1362717, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0956547/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10004

Producer. Born 31 March 1904 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 4 November 1958.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer
- **Born:** 31 March 1904, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 4 November 1958
- **Active:** 1929–1959
- **Also known as:** Sam S. Zimbalist
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 3 producing, 1 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Deborah Kerr](https://film.one/person/deborah-kerr.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 1 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 71, as producer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1920s 60 (1), 1950s 71 (3)
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Adventure 2, Drama 2, History 2, Romance 2, Action 1
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $200m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Zimbalist, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1362717, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0956547/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10004

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*Ben-Hur*](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md) (76)
- **HBO Max:** [*Quo Vadis*](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md) (65)
- **The Roku Channel:** [*The Broadway Melody*](https://film.one/film/the-broadway-melody.md) (60)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Sam Zimbalist was an American film producer and editor. He began his career at Metro Studios as an office boy and film editor in the 1920s, remaining with the company through its merger into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He was promoted to assistant producer in 1929 and became a full producer in 1936.

Zimbalist produced a series of MGM films, including *King Solomon's Mines* (1950), *Quo Vadis* (1951) and *Mogambo* (1953), the first two of which received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture. He was assigned to produce the epic *Ben-Hur* (1959) and died of a heart attack in Rome on 4 November 1958 while supervising filming on location. The film was released posthumously and won the Academy Award for Best Picture, which Zimbalist received as the first person to win the award after his death; it was accepted by his widow.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Produced (3) — the average rests on these

- *Ben-Hur* (1959), Fi1m 76, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md)
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Fi1m 65, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *King Solomon's Mines* (1950), Fi1m 72, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/king-solomons-mines.md)

### Crew (1)

- *The Broadway Melody* (1929), Fi1m 60, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-broadway-melody.md)

## Complete filmography (36)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *That's Entertainment, Part II* (1976), Thanks
- *Ben-Hur* (1959), Producer — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md)
- *I Accuse!* (1958), Producer
- *The Catered Affair* (1956), Producer
- *Tribute to a Bad Man* (1956), Producer
- *Beau Brummell* (1954), Producer
- *Mogambo* (1953), Producer
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Producer — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *King Solomon's Mines* (1950), Producer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/king-solomons-mines.md)
- *Side Street* (1950), Producer
- *Killer McCoy* (1947), Producer
- *Adventure* (1945), Producer
- *Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo* (1944), Producer
- *Tortilla Flat* (1942), Producer
- *Boom Town* (1940), Producer
- *These Glamour Girls* (1939), Producer
- *Tarzan Finds a Son!* (1939), Producer
- *Paradise for Three* (1938), Producer
- *Navy Blue and Gold* (1937), Producer
- *Married Before Breakfast* (1937), Producer
- *Our Modern Maidens* (1929), Editor
- *The Broadway Melody* (1929), Editor — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/the-broadway-melody.md)
- *Alias Jimmy Valentine* (1928), Editor
- *The Adventurer* (1928), Editor
- *Diamond Handcuffs* (1928), Editor
- *The Smart Set* (1928), Editor
- *While the City Sleeps* (1928), Editor
- *Baby Mine* (1928), Editor
- *Buttons* (1927), Editor
- *Foreign Devils* (1927), Editor
- *The Bugle Call* (1927), Editor
- *Johnny Get Your Hair Cut* (1927), Editor
- *The Unchastened Woman* (1925), Editor
- *The Cloudhopper* (1925), Editor
- *The Dome Doctor* (1925), Editor
- *The Wizard of Oz* (1925), Editor

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- 1960: Best Picture (won), for *Ben-Hur*
- 1952: Best Picture (nominated), for *Quo Vadis*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sam-zimbalist