Norman Taurog (23 February 1899 – 7 April 1981) was a Hollywood director of the Golden Age, and the first director to work of the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. Taurog was chosen because he had a reputation for guiding younger performers, like Jackie Cooper and Deanna Durbin. Taurog had directed his nephew Cooper in a film called Skippy (1931), which won Taurog an Academy Award. (He was 32 years old, still the youngest man to win for Best Director.) He was nominated for another Oscar for Boys Town (1938).