Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Samuel Wilder , 빌리 와일더

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 137

TV Involvements: 6


Most Famous Work

Biography

Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-born director, screenwriter and producer who is regarded as one of the most excellent 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.

Most Famous Work

Some Like It Hot
Average
8

Some Like It Hot

(1959) Screenplay
Double Indemnity
Average
8

Double Indemnity

(1944) Screenplay
Witness for the Prosecution
Average
8

Witness for the Prosecution

(1957) Screenplay
The Front Page
Average
7

The Front Page

(1974) Director
Sunset Boulevard
Average
8

Sunset Boulevard

(1950) Screenplay
Irma la Douce
Average
7

Irma la Douce

(1963) Director
The Apartment
Average
8

The Apartment

(1960) Screenplay
The Lost Weekend
Average
8

The Lost Weekend

(1945) Director

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2020 Self - Filmmaker (voice) (archive footage)
2019 Self (archive footage)
2017 Self (archive footage)
2016 Self (archive footage)
2014 Self (archive footage)
Self (archive footage)
2009 Self (archive footage)
2007 Self (archive footage)
2006 Self (archive footage)
Self (archive footage)
Self (archive footage)
Self - Filmmaker
2003 Self (archive footage)
2000 Self (archive footage)
1998 Self
1997 Self
1996 Self
Self
1995 Self
1993 Self
1992 Self
Self
1989 Self
1986 Self
1982 Self
1978 Self
1975 Self
1974 Self
1973 Self
1956 Self
1953 Self
1951 Self
Year Character Movie/Tv

Crew

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1995 Original Film Writer
1982 Screenplay
1981 Writer
1978 Writer
1974 Screenplay
1973 Screenplay
1972 Screenplay
1970 Writer
1966 Screenplay
1964 Screenplay
1963 Screenplay
1961 Screenplay
1960 Screenplay
1959 Screenplay
1957 Screenplay
Screenplay
Screenplay
1955 Screenplay
1954 Screenplay
Screenplay
1953 Writer
1951 Writer
1950 Screenplay
1948 Original Film Writer
Original Story
Screenplay
Writer
1945 Screenplay
1944 Screenplay
1943 Screenplay
1942 Writer
1941 Original Story
Screenplay
Writer
1940 Screenplay
Story
1939 Screenplay
Screenplay
Screenplay
1938 Writer
Screenplay
1937 Story
1936 Original Story
1935 Screenplay
Screenplay
1934 Screenplay
Story
Writer
1933 Writer
Screenplay
Screenplay
1932 Screenplay
Story
Writer
Writer
Writer
Writer
Writer
1931 Screenplay
Writer
Writer
Story
Writer
Screenplay
1930 Writer
Screenplay
1929 Writer
1927 Writer
Original Film Writer
Year Role Movie/Tv

Directing

Production

Editing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1945 Editor
Year Role Movie/Tv

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