Description:
Edgar G. Ulmer was born on 17 September 1904 in Olmütz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Olomouc, Czech Republic]. He was a director and writer, known for The Naked Dawn (1955), The Black Cat (1934) and Isle of Forgotten Sins (1943). He was married to Shirley Ulmer and Joan Warner. He died on 30 September 1972 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Birthday
September 17, 1904
Born In
Olmütz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Olomouc, Czech Republic]
Alternative names
Edgar G. Ulmer PhD
, Ove H. Sehested
, Edgar George Ulmer
, Edgar Georg Ulmer
, Edgar Ulmer
, John Warner
Spouse/Ex-
Shirley Ulmer ? - September 30, 1972 (his death),Joan Warner ()
Trivia
Historian/critic/director Peter Bogdanovich praises Ulmer's directorial work on
low-budget movies like The Naked Dawn (1955) and Sette contro la morte (1964), which he considers
"classics", adding that "the astonishing thing is that so many of
Ulmer's movies have a clearly identifiable signature [despite being]
accomplished with so little encouragement and so few means . . . ". Ulmer
worked in set design beginning as a teenager for Austrian director
Max Reinhardt. He came with Reinhardt to the US in 1923 with the play "The
Miracle", which opened on Broadway. He was blackballed from Hollywood
work after he had an affair with Shirley Castle (he eventually married
her and she became known as Shirley Ulmer), who at the time was the wife of
B-picture producer Max Alexander, a nephew of powerful Universal Pictures
president Carl Laemmle. Ulmer spent the bulk of his remaining career languishing at PRC, the lowest rung on the ladder of Hollywood's "Poverty Row" studios. He signed a long-term contract there in October 1943 after directing the "big-budget" (by PRC standards) Jive Junction (1943), becoming the company's #1 director. Ulmer remains the principal reason PRC is mentioned in Hollywood history at all.
Quotes
I really am looking for absolution for all the things I had to do for
money's sake.
Nickname
The King of PRC
Salaries
$300
