Billy Wilder
Directing
Billy Wilder, born Samuel Wilder; (22 June 1906 - 27 March 2002) was an Austrian-born director, screenwriter and producer who is regarded as one of the most successful 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.
Known for
Directing27
movieBuddy Buddy
1981
Director
movieFedora
1978
Director
movieThe Front Page
1974
Director
movieAvanti!
1972
Director
movieThe Fortune Cookie
1966
Director
movieKiss Me, Stupid
1964
Director
movieIrma la Douce
1963
Director
movieOne, Two, Three
1961
Director
movieThe Apartment
1960
Director
movieSome Like It Hot
1959
Director
movieLove in the Afternoon
1957
Director
movieThe Spirit of St. Louis
1957
Director
movieThe Seven Year Itch
1955
Director
movieSabrina
1954
Director
movieStalag 17
1953
Director
movieAce in the Hole
1951
Director
movieSunset Boulevard
1950
Director
movieA Foreign Affair
1948
Director
movieThe Emperor Waltz
1948
Director
movieThe Lost Weekend
1945
Director
movieDeath Mills
1945
Director
movieDouble Indemnity
1944
Director
movieFive Graves to Cairo
1943
Director
movieThe Major and the Minor
1942
Director
movieBad Seed
1934
Director
Writing69
movieLa Garçonnière
2018
Original Story
movieSabrina
1995
Original Film Writer
movieWitness for the Prosecution
1982
Screenplay
movieSugar
1982
Original Film Writer
movieBuddy Buddy
1981
Writer
movieFedora
1978
Writer
movieThe Front Page
1974
Screenplay
movieDouble Indemnity
1973
Screenplay
movieAvanti!
1972
Screenplay
movieKiss Me, Stupid
1964
Screenplay
movieIrma la Douce
1963
Screenplay
movieOne, Two, Three
1961
Screenplay
movieThe Apartment
1960
Writer
movieSome Like It Hot
1959
Screenplay
movieWitness for the Prosecution
1957
Screenplay
movieLove in the Afternoon
1957
Screenplay
movieThe Spirit of St. Louis
1957
Screenplay
movieThe Seven Year Itch
1955
Screenplay
movieEmil and the Detectives
1954
Screenplay
movieSabrina
1954
Screenplay
movieStalag 17
1953
Writer
movieAce in the Hole
1951
Writer
movieSunset Boulevard
1950
Screenplay
movieA Song Is Born
1948
Story, Original Film Writer
movieA Foreign Affair
1948
Screenplay
movieMasquerade in Mexico
1945
Original Film Writer
movieThe Lost Weekend
1945
Screenplay
movieDouble Indemnity
1944
Screenplay
movieFive Graves to Cairo
1943
Screenplay
movieBall of Fire
1941
Original Story, Screenplay
movieArise, My Love
1940
Screenplay
movieNinotchka
1939
Screenplay
movieWhat a Life
1939
Screenplay
movieMidnight
1939
Screenplay
movieBluebeard's 8th Wife
1938
Screenplay
movieFirst Offence
1936
Original Story
movieEmil and the Detectives
1935
Screenplay
movieThe Lottery Lover
1935
Screenplay
movieMusic in the Air
1934
Screenplay
movieBad Seed
1934
Writer
movieAdorable
1933
Writer
movieWhat Women Dream
1933
Screenplay
movieMadame Wants No Children
1933
Screenplay
movieThe Blue from the Sky
1932
Screenplay
movieA Blonde Dream
1932
Writer
movieThe Winner
1932
Writer
movieEmil and the Detectives
1931
Screenplay
moviePeople on Sunday
1930
Screenplay
movieSunset Boulevard
Original Film Writer
Acting32
movieAudrey
2020
Self - Filmmaker (voice) (archive footage)
movieHollywood's Second World War
2019
Self (archive footage)
movieNever Be Boring: Billy Wilder
2017
Self (archive footage)
movieBilly Wilder: Nobody's Perfect
2016
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006
Self (archive footage)
movieBilly Wilder Speaks
2006
Self - Filmmaker
tvUn film et son époque
2003
Self (archive footage)
movieNobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
2001
Self (archive footage)
Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor
2000
Self (archive footage)
tvThe Oscars
1953
Self
Production15
movieFedora
1978
Producer
movieAvanti!
1972
Producer
movieThe Fortune Cookie
1966
Producer
movieKiss Me, Stupid
1964
Producer
movieIrma la Douce
1963
Producer
movieOne, Two, Three
1961
Producer
movieThe Apartment
1960
Producer
movieSome Like It Hot
1959
Producer
movieLove in the Afternoon
1957
Producer
movieThe Spirit of St. Louis
1957
Producer
movieThe Seven Year Itch
1955
Producer
movieSabrina
1954
Producer
movieStalag 17
1953
Producer
movieAce in the Hole
1951
Producer
Crew3
movieThe Bishop's Wife
1947
Additional Writing
Editing1
movieDeath Mills
1945
Editor