Billy Wilder Biography
Billy Wilder was a well-known Austrian-born American director and screenwriter. Born into a Jewish family, Wilder began his career as a sports journalist and then moved to Berlin, where he worked as a screenwriter. However, with the rise of Hitler, she left Germany and emigrated first to France and then to the United States, where she wrote the screenplay for Ernst Lubitsch's “Ninotchka” (1939), for which she received an Oscar nomination.
Wilder made his debut as a director in France in 1934 with “The Redeemer”, while his first American film was “Forbidden Fruit” (1942). Among his most famous films are the noir “Doomsday Nightmare” (1944), nominated for seven Oscars, “Lost Days” (1945), which won four Oscars (film, director, leading actor and non-original screenplay), and “Sunset Boulevard” (1950), a masterpiece on the Hollywood star system starring Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich von Stroheim, which won three Oscars (screenplay, production design, soundtrack).
In the 1950s, Wilder directed “Sabrina” (1954) with Audrey Hepburn and “The Seven Year Itch” (1955) with Marilyn Monroe, also starring in “Some Like It Hot” (1959) with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon . In 1960 he won five Oscars with "The Apartment", in the categories of best film, direction, screenplay, production design and editing. Other notable titles include “Irma the Sweet” (1963) with Shirley MacLaine, “First Page” (1974) with Walter Matthau and “Fedora” (1978).
