Billy Wilder
Directing
Born: June 22, 1906 · Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary
Died: March 27, 2002 (aged 95)
Highest Rated
Biography
Billy Wilder, born Samuel Wilder; (22 June 1906 - 27 March 2002) was an Austrian-born director, screenwriter and producer who is regarded as one of the most successful filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age. Today he is best known for his comedies, although he also directed dramas and film noirs. Wilder is one of only five people who have won Academy Awards as producer, director, and writer for the same film (The Apartment). Wilder's career began in Germany, where he worked as a writer for comedy films from 1930. After the Nazis seized power in 1933, he emigrated to the United States, where he continued to write screenplays, including Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka (1939) and Howard Hawks' Ball of Fire (1941). From the early 1940s, Wilder was allowed to film his own screenplays and thus made a name for himself as a director. Initially, his greatest successes included predominantly dramatic film noirs such as Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Ace in the Hole (1951). It was only then that he increasingly turned to comedy, including Stalag 17 (1953), Sabrina (1954) and The Seven Year Itch (1955), although he made a small detour to courtroom drama with Witness for the Prosecution (1957). With Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960) he made his most famous and probably most successful comedy films, the latter even receiving five Oscars. In One, Two, Three (1961), Wilder dealt with the conditions of the time in his former adopted country, Germany, and made the successful romantic comedy Irma la Douce (1963). In the two decades that followed, Wilder made seven more films, which were less well received by critics and audiences, although the German-French drama Fedora (1978) is viewed somewhat more favorably today by predominantly pretentious film experts. Some time later, Wilder was under discussion as director for Schindler's List, which he had wanted as the end of his long career, but ultimately had to turn it down due to his advanced age.
Known for
Some Like It Hot
1959
Sunset Boulevard
1950
The Apartment
1960
Double Indemnity
1944
Witness for the Prosecution
1957
Sabrina
1954
The Seven Year Itch
1955
Ace in the Hole
1951
Sabrina
1995
The Lost Weekend
1945
Stalag 17
1953
Irma la Douce
1963
Photos (8)
Movies (1)
Self / Appearances (27)
Spécial cinéma
Self · 1 eps
The Oscars
Self · 1 eps
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self · 1 eps
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self · 1 eps
Cinépanorama
Self · 1 eps
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self · 2 eps
Audrey
Self - Filmmaker (voice) (archive footage)
Un film et son époque
Self (archive footage) · 1 eps
Film Lesson
Self · 1 eps
Directed by William Wyler
Self
Audrey Hepburn: Remembered
Self
Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor
Self (archive footage)
Billy, How Did You Do It?
Self · 6 eps
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
Self (archive footage)
Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood's Second World War
Self (archive footage)
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
Self (archive footage)
Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman
Self
Fred MacMurray: The Guy Next Door
Self
Billy Wilder Speaks
Self - Filmmaker
Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough
Self
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
Self (archive footage)
Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder
Self
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
Self
The Exiles
Self
Billy Wilder: Nobody's Perfect
Self (archive footage)
Billy, How Did You Do It?
Self
Upcoming (1)
Directing (27)
Sunset Boulevard
Director
Some Like It Hot
Director
Witness for the Prosecution
Director
The Apartment
Director
Sabrina
Director
Double Indemnity
Director
The Seven Year Itch
Director
Irma la Douce
Director
The Lost Weekend
Director
Ace in the Hole
Director
Avanti!
Director
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Director
The Front Page
Director
Stalag 17
Director
One, Two, Three
Director
Love in the Afternoon
Director
The Fortune Cookie
Director
Kiss Me, Stupid
Director
Fedora
Director
Bad Seed
Director
Five Graves to Cairo
Director
Death Mills
Director
The Spirit of St. Louis
Director
The Major and the Minor
Director
A Foreign Affair
Director
Buddy Buddy
Director
The Emperor Waltz
Director
Writing (68)
Sunset Boulevard
Screenplay
Some Like It Hot
Screenplay
Witness for the Prosecution
Screenplay
The Apartment
Writer
Sabrina
Screenplay
Double Indemnity
Screenplay
The Seven Year Itch
Screenplay
Sabrina
Original Film Writer
Irma la Douce
Screenplay
Ninotchka
Screenplay
The Lost Weekend
Screenplay
Ace in the Hole
Writer
Avanti!
Screenplay
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Writer
The Front Page
Screenplay
Stalag 17
Writer
What Women Dream
Screenplay
One, Two, Three
Screenplay
Love in the Afternoon
Screenplay
The Fortune Cookie
Writer
Ball of Fire
Original Story
Ball of Fire
Screenplay
Kiss Me, Stupid
Screenplay
Fedora
Writer
Witness for the Prosecution
Screenplay
Emil and the Detectives
Screenplay
Bad Seed
Writer
Five Graves to Cairo
Screenplay
The Spirit of St. Louis
Screenplay
The Major and the Minor
Writer
A Foreign Affair
Screenplay
Buddy Buddy
Writer
A Song Is Born
Story
A Song Is Born
Original Film Writer
La Garçonnière
Original Story
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
Screenplay
People on Sunday
Screenplay
Midnight
Screenplay
Arise, My Love
Screenplay
The Emperor Waltz
Writer
Der Teufelsreporter
Writer
Hold Back the Dawn
Writer
The Lottery Lover
Screenplay
Emil and the Detectives
Screenplay
One Exciting Adventure
Story
Champagne Waltz
Story
Music in the Air
Screenplay
Double Indemnity
Screenplay
What a Life
Screenplay
Madame Wants No Children
Screenplay
Her Grace Commands
Writer
Adorable
Writer
Masquerade in Mexico
Original Film Writer
Emil and the Detectives
Screenplay
The Man in Search of His Murderer
Screenplay
That Certain Age
Writer
A Blonde Dream
Writer
Rhythm on the River
Story
The Wrong Husband
Writer
Princess, At Your Orders!
Writer
Scampolo, ein Kind der Straße
Writer
First Offence
Original Story
Where Is This Lady?
Story
Once There Was a Waltz
Writer
Infidelities
Story
The Blue from the Sky
Screenplay
Sugar
Original Film Writer
The Winner
Writer
Producing (15)
Some Like It Hot
Producer
The Apartment
Producer
Sabrina
Producer
The Seven Year Itch
Producer
Irma la Douce
Producer
Ace in the Hole
Producer
Avanti!
Producer
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Producer
Stalag 17
Producer
One, Two, Three
Producer
Love in the Afternoon
Producer
The Fortune Cookie
Producer
Kiss Me, Stupid
Producer
Fedora
Producer
The Spirit of St. Louis
Producer
