Billy Wilder

Description: (One of the Most Brilliant and Versatile Filmmakers of 'Classic Hollywood Cinema' With a Career Spanning Five Decades)

He was a filmmaker with a midas touch who transformed an era in Hollywood with his works which have been listed in America’s Golden Age of Films. Originally planned to become a lawyer, destiny played its role as Billy Wilder turned to journalism, which soon attracted him to the magnetic world of Hollywood! The love for writing took him forward as he started writing scripts for movies and established himself as a screenwriter. Movie after movie, he gave audience conventional scripts with a dash of novelty. However, not the one to be satisfied, he worked up the ladder and put on the hat of a director as well. What made him strikingly different from filmmakers of this generation was his urge to expand the horizons of filmmaking in Hollywood. While his contemporaries limited themselves to tried-and-tested formula, he strived to broaden the perspective by accentuating the range of acceptable matter in Hollywood. To start with, he released the movie ‘Double Indemnity’ and explored further with ‘Sunset Boulevard’. ‘The Apartment’ was his most well received movie that earned him three Academy Awards in different categories. During the last leg of film-making, he explored the genre of humor and came up with comedic tales, few of which have found place in the American Film Institute's list of 100 funniest American films. To know more about his life, read on.

Overview

Birthday June 22, 1906 (Cancer)
Born In United States
Alternative names Samuel Wilder
Height 180 cm
Died on March 27, 2002
Spouse/Ex- Audrey Young (1949–2002; his death), Judith Coppicus (1936–1946; divorced)
Parents Max Wilder
Eugenia Dittler
Children Victoria Wilder Vincent Wilder
Relatives William Lee Wilder
All Filters