Contents
Billy Wilder
Directing and co-writing Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot and The Apartment, mixing sharp comedy with moral discomfort.
Sunset Boulevard · Some Like It Hot
- Born
- 22 June 1906
- Birthplace
- Sucha Beskidzka, Poland
- Died
- 27 March 2002
More people
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder worked across noir, comedy and drama, often exposing the compromises beneath glamour and success.
Early life
Central European roots
Born in Austria-Hungary, in a town now in Poland, and raised partly in Vienna.
Journalist first
Worked in newspapers before becoming a screenwriter in Berlin.
Career
- 1933–1934
Leaving Europe
Fled Nazi Germany, worked briefly in Paris and moved to Hollywood.
- 1944
Directing breakthrough
Double Indemnity established his command of film noir.
- 1950s
Genre range
Combined dark Hollywood satire, courtroom drama and romantic comedy.
- 1960
Triple Oscar success
The Apartment brought Oscars for producing, directing and co-writing.
Selected work
Sunset Boulevard
A struggling writer enters a faded silent star's world.
Some Like It Hot
Two musicians disguise themselves to escape gangsters.
The Apartment
An office worker lends his home to executives for affairs.
Beyond work
Family losses
His mother, grandmother and stepfather were murdered in the Holocaust.
Art collector
Built a major collection of modern art.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗British Film Institute: film and context ↗Photo: Unknown author Unknown author. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
