William Wyler

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July 1, 1902

July 27, 1981

Wilhelm Weiller

Margaret Sullavan (1934–1936; divorced)

Margaret Tallichet (1938–1981; his death) (5 children)

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Director

The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)

Funny Girl (1968)

How to Steal a Million (1966)

The Collector (1965)

The Children's Hour (1961)

Ben-Hur (1959) (producer)

The Big Country (1958) (producer)

Friendly Persuasion (1956) (producer)

"Producers' Showcase" (1 episode, 1956)

The Desperate Hours (1955 )(producer)

Roman Holiday (1953) (producer)

Carrie (1952) (producer)

Detective Story (1951) (producer)

The Heiress (1949) (producer)

Thunderbolt (1947) (as Lt Col William Wyler)

Best-Years-Of-Our-Lives (1946)

The Fighting Lady (1944) (uncredited)

The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944) (writer)

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

The Little Foxes (1941)

The Letter (1940) (producer)

The Westerner (1940)

Wuthering Heights (1939)

Jezebel (1938) (producer)

Dead End (1937)

Come and Get It (1936) (completed film)

Dodsworth (1936) (actor)

These Three (1936)

Barbary Coast (1935) (uncredited; replaced by Howard Hawks)

The Gay Deception (1935)

The Good Fairy (1935)

Glamour (1934)

Counsellor at Law (1933)

Her First Mate (1933) (actor)

Tom Brown of Culver (1932)

A House Divided (1931)

The Storm (1930)

Hell's Heroes (1930)

The Love Trap (1929) (producer)

The Shakedown (1929) (actor)

Anybody Here Seen Kelly? (1928)

Thunder Riders (1928)

Desert Dust (1927)

The Border Cavalier (1927)

Daze of the West (1927)

The Horse Trader (1927)

The Square Shooter (1927)

The Phantom Outlaw (1927)

Gun Justice (1927)

The Home Trail (1927)

The Ore Raiders (1927)

The Lone Star (1927)

Hard Fists (1927)

The Haunted Homestead (1927)

Galloping Justice (1927)

Shooting Straight (1927)

Blazing Days (1927)

The Silent Partner (1927)

Tenderfoot Courage (1927)

Kelcy Gets His Man (1927)

The Two Fister (1927)

The Stolen Ranch (1926)

Lazy Lightning (1926)

Martin of the Mounted (1926)

The Pinnacle Rider (1926)

Don't Shoot (1926)

The Fire Barrier (1926)

Ridin' for Love (1926) (writer)

The Gunless Bad Man (1926)

The Crook Buster (1925)

Producer

The Children's Hour (1961) (producer)

Actor

"The Jackie Gleason Show" (4 episodes, 1966-1970)

Appearances

Directed by William Wyler (1986)

Laurence Olivier: A Life (1982) (TV)

"Hollywood" (1980) TV mini-series (unknown episodes)

The American Film Institute Salute to Bette Davis (1977) (TV)

The 48th Annual Academy Awards (1976) (TV)

The American Film Institute Presents a Salute to William Wyler (1976) (TV)

"This Is Your Life" (1 episode, 1971)

This Is Streisand (1968)

À Hollywood avec... (1964)

The 33rd Annual Academy Awards (1961) (TV)

The 32nd Annual Academy Awards (1960) (TV)

"Cinépanorama" (1 episode, 1958)

"Toast of the Town" (1 episode, 1957)

The Screen Director (1951) (uncredited)

Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 9 (1938)

Academy Awards

1966 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: The Collector (1965)

1966 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

1960 Won Oscar Best Director for: Ben-Hur (1959)

1957 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: Friendly Persuasion (1956)

1957 Nominated Oscar Best Picture for: Friendly Persuasion (1956)

1954 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: Roman Holiday (1953)

1954 Nominated Oscar Best Picture for: Roman Holiday (1953)

1952 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: Detective Story (1951)

1950 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: The Heiress (1949)

1947 Won Oscar Best Director for: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

1943 Won Oscar Best Director for: Mrs. Miniver (1942)

1942 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: The Little Foxes (1941)

1941 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: The Letter (1940)

1940 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: Wuthering Heights (1939)

1937 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: Dodsworth (1936)

American Film Institute

1976 Life Achievement Award

BAFTA Awards

1960 Won BAFTA Film Award Best Film from any Source for: Ben-Hur (1959)

1960 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Film from any Source for: The Big Country (1958)

Bodil Awards

1948 Won Bodil Best American Film (Bedste amerikanske film) for: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Cannes Film Festival

1965 Nominated Golden Palm for: The Collector (1965)

1957 Won Golden Palm for: Friendly Persuasion (1956)

1952 Nominated Grand Prize of the Festival for: Detective Story (1951)

Directors Guild of America

1969 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: Funny Girl (1968)

1966 Lifetime Achievement Award

1962 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: The Children's Hour (1961)

1960 Won DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: Ben-Hur (1959). Shared with: Gus Agosti & Alberto Cardone (assistant directors) (plaque)

1959 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: The Big Country (1958)

1957 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: Friendly Persuasion (1956)

1954 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
for: Roman Holiday (1953)

1952 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: Detective Story (1951)

Golden Globe Awards

1969 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Director for: Funny Girl (1968)

1966 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Director for: The Collector (1965)

1962 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Director for: The Children's Hour (1961)

1960 Won Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Director for: Ben-Hur (1959)

1950 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Director for: The Heiress (1949)

Kinema Junpo Awards

1959 Won Kinema Junpo Award Best Foreign Language Film for: The Big Country (1958)

Laurel Awards

1971 Nominated Golden Laurel Best Producer-Director 8th place

1970 3rd place Golden Laurel Producer-Director

1967 Nominated Golden Laurel Producer-Director 7th place

1966 3rd place Golden Laurel Producer-Director

1965 Nominated Golden Laurel Producer-Director 4th place

1964 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Producer/ Director 10th place

1963 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Producer/ Director 5th place

1962 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Producer/ Director 10th place

1961 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Producer/ Director 4th place

1960 2nd place Golden Laurel Top Producer/ Director

1959 3rd place Golden Laurel Top Producer/ Director

1958 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Producer/ Director 5th place

National Board of Review

1955 Won NBR Award Best Director for: The Desperate Hours (1955)

1946 Won NBR Award Best Director for: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

1946 Won NYFCC Award Best Director for: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Sant Jordi Awards

1966 Won Sant Jordi Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) for: The Collector (1965)

Venice Film Festival

1952 Nominated Golden Lion for: Carrie (1952)

1938 Won Special Recommendation for: Jezebel (1938) for its overall artistic contribution

1938 Nominated Mussolini Cup Best Film for: Jezebel (1938)

Walk of Fame (Hollywood)

Star on the Walk of Fame Motion Picture At 1735 Vine Street

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It's a miserable life in Hollywood. You're up at five or six o'clock in the morning to be ready to start shooting at nine. The working hours aren't arranged to suit the artists and the directors; they're for the convenience of the technicians. If you go to a party at night, you'll never find anyone there who's shooting a picture; they're all home in bed.

I made over 40 westerns. I used to lie awake nights trying to think up new ways of getting on and off a horse.

I may not make a good picture, but I still gotta believe it.

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His father Swiss father Leopold, started as a traveling salesman which he later turned into a thriving haberdashery business. His mother, Melanie who passed away February 13, 1955 in Los
Angeles, California was from Germany.

He attended a number of schools and developed a reputation as "something of a hell-raiser", being expelled more than once for misbehavior.

His mother often took him and his older brother Robert to concerts, opera, and the theatre, as well as the early cinema.

As a youth, Wyler spent time in Paris studying violin at the National Conservatory.

Carl Laemmle was the first cousin of Wyler's mother. Laemmle offered Wyler, who was then living in his native Alsace, France, a job in Universal's New York office. Wyler accepted the offer and emigrated to America in 1920. He was 18 years old.

After working as an assistant director on the Lon Chaney version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) Wyler landed his first directorial job at the age of 23, directing Crook Buster (1925),the first of 40 two-reel, action-packed westerns he directed for Universal Studios.

He became the youngest director on the Universal lot on his promotion in 1925.

Wyler believed that after many takes, actors got angry and began to shed their preconceived ideas about acting in general and the part in particular. Stripped of these notions, actors were able to play at a truer level.

He was such a perfectionist that he earned the nickname 90-take Wyler. On the set of Jezebel Wyler forced Henry Fonda through 40 takes of one particular scene, his only guidance being - ”Again!” - after each take. When Fonda asked for more direction, Wyler responded, ”It stinks”. Similarly, when Charlton Heston quizzed the director about the supposed shortcomings in his performance in Ben-Hur, Wyler dismissed his concerns with a simple, ”Be better”.

In June of 1944 he permanently lost the hearing in his right ear while filming a bombing mission from a B-17.

He served in the New York National Guard for a year.

He turned down offers to direct Henry V (1944) and The Sound of Music (1965).

He is interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Eventide Section, space 2, plot #2998.

Salary

Thunderbolt (1947) $2,500 per week + 20% of profits

Ben-Hur (1959) $1,000,000

Must-see Movies

Jezebel (1938)

Wuthering Heights (1939)

Mrs-Miniver (1942)

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Roman Holiday (1953)

Ben-Hur (1959)

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