Batman
1966
Search results
Otto Ludwig Preminger (/ ˈprɛmɪndʒər / PREM-in-jər, [1] German: [ˈɔtoː ˈpreːmɪŋɐ] ⓘ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) [2] was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre.
Otto Preminger. Actor: Stalag 17. Otto Ludwig Preminger was born in Wiznitz, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary. His father was a prosecutor, and Otto originally intended to follow his father into a law career; however, he fell in love with the theater in his 20's and became one of the most imaginative stage producers and directors.
- January 1, 1
- New York City, New York, USA
- January 1, 1
- 1.82 m
- Overview
- Early work
- Laura and costume dramas
Otto Preminger (born December 5, 1905, Wiznitz, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary [now Vyzhnytsya, Ukraine]—died April 23, 1986, New York, New York, U.S.) Austrian-born American director who defied Hollywood’s Production Code with a series of controversial films—notably The Moon Is Blue (1953), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and Anatomy of a Murder (1...
Preminger, who was the son of the attorney general of the Austrian Empire, earned a law degree from the University of Vienna in 1928. However, by that time, he was already active in the theatre, and he subsequently studied acting with the legendary Max Reinhardt. He then opened his own stock companies, Die Komodie Theatre and Die Schauspielhaus. In 1931 Preminger directed the German-language film, Die grosse Liebe (The Great Love), and in 1933 the aging Reinhardt named him producer-director of Vienna’s renowned Theatre in der Josefstadt.
In 1935 Preminger, who was Jewish, immigrated to the United States; he became a U.S. citizen in 1943. He staged the Broadway play Libel (1935–36) before making his way to Hollywood. His first American movies were two B-films at Twentieth Century-Fox: Under Your Spell (1936) and Danger—Love at Work (1937). After studio executive Darryl F. Zanuck fired him early in the filming of Kidnapped (1938), Preminger returned to the stage. On Broadway he directed several plays, notably Margin for Error (1939–40), in which he cast himself as a Nazi. With his Austrian accent, imposing build, and intimidating persona, Nazi characters became Preminger’s specialty. He also taught stage direction at Yale University from 1938 to 1941.
Preminger was invited back to Hollywood in 1942 to act in Irving Pichel’s Academy Award-nominated The Pied Piper, again portraying a Nazi. Then he was asked to re-create his stage role in the film version of Margin for Error (1943), and he agreed on the condition that he could also direct. However, it was a poorly received film, as was the tepid Jeanne Crain soap opera In the Meantime, Darling (1944).
Britannica Quiz
Pop Culture Quiz
Preminger then helmed Laura (1944), a film noir classic that established his reputation as a talented but tough director—his volatile temper earned him the nicknames “Otto the Terrible” and “Otto the Ogre”—and that began his career-long exploration of human obsession. He originally was set to produce and direct the film, which was based on a Vera Caspary novel, but Zanuck handed the reins to Rouben Mamoulian. However, Zanuck disliked the early rushes, and he fired Mamoulian and reinstated Preminger. The result is one of the great films of the 1940s, with Dana Andrews as an implacable police detective who falls in love with a murder victim (Gene Tierney) during the course of his investigation. Preminger received his first Academy Award nomination for best director, and Joseph LaShelle won an Oscar for his cinematography.
The commercial and critical success of Laura gave Preminger leverage, and Zanuck signed him to a long-term contract. A Royal Scandal (1945) had been started by Ernst Lubitsch, but, when he fell ill, Preminger completed it. The film, a biography of Catherine the Great as portrayed by Tallulah Bankhead, was the first of many Preminger-directed costume pictures. Next was Fallen Angel (1945), a first-rate noir. Andrews was cast as a gold digger who marries a rich socialite (Alice Faye) and then finds that he is accused of murdering his waitress mistress (Linda Darnell). Centennial Summer (1946) was a bland if colourful musical set at the 1876 exposition in Philadelphia, with Crain, Darnell, and Cornel Wilde. In Forever Amber (1947) Darnell portrayed an ambitious 17th-century woman who overcomes her humble beginnings through a series of affairs. Because of the Production Code restrictions, the film captured little of the eroticism of the best seller by Kathleen Winsor, but it was still a box-office hit.
Special offer for students! Check out our special academic rate and excel this spring semester!
- Michael Barson
Otto Preminger. Actor: Stalag 17. Otto Ludwig Preminger was born in Wiznitz, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary. His father was a prosecutor, and Otto originally intended to follow his father into a law career; however, he fell in love with the theater in his 20's and became one of the most imaginative stage producers and directors.
- December 5, 1905
- April 23, 1986
First major movie hit was Laura in 1944. Over a career than spanned 48 years, Preminger directed 40 feature films. Major genres included: drama (27); comedy (12); romance (12) and crime/film noir (12). The vast majority of his films (78%) where released in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Aug 25, 2023 · The truth about Otto Preminger, the most merciless tyrant in Hollywood. Few have ever bullied actors quite so fiercely – but a biography of the great director reveals surprising contradictions, says Tim Robey. 2023-08-25 - The greatest films of Otto Preminger stand as peaks for a certain kind of intellectually probing Hollywood entertainment.
Otto Ludwig Preminger (5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian theatre and film director. After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura (1944) and Fallen Angel (1945).
