Career
Born to a Jewish family, he began his career at 16 as a film cutter at Metro Studios. He remained with Metro when the studio merged with Goldwyn Pictures and with Mayer Pictures in 1924 to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Among the films he edited at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was Lon Chaney"s While the City Sleeps (1928).
He was promoted to assistant producer in 1929 and full producer in 1936.
He also was the producer for the 1944 film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, the story of the Doolittle Raiders. Zimbalist died suddenly of a heart attack In Italy, while working on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer"s most elaborate production until that time, the 1959 epic Ben-Hur.
He was buried at the Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California. They divorced in 1950.
Zimbalist then married Mary Taylor, a former fashion model and actress, in 1952.
