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Billy WilderImage: Wikimedia Commons

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Billy Wilder

Austrian and American filmmaker (1906–2002)

Billy Wilder was an Austrian and American film director and screenwriter whose Hollywood career spanned five decades. He won seven Academy Awards among 21 nominations, plus a BAFTA Award and the Palme d'Or. After co-writing Ninotchka (1939), he directed Double Indemnity (1944) and won Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture for The Lost Weekend (1945).

Billy Wilder appears in 17 films in The Rerun, from 1944 to 1972. That includes 17 titles as director. Most of that work is in comedy, drama and romance. Frequent collaborators in The Rerun: Jack Lemmon (4), Joan Shawlee (3), William Holden (3), Shirley MacLaine (2), Grace Lee Whitney (2).

Known for

  • Sunset Boulevard (1950), Director. Won him his second Academy Award for Best Screenplay.
  • Double Indemnity (1944), Director. Film noir he co-wrote with Raymond Chandler, earning his first Best Director nomination.
  • The Lost Weekend (1945), Director. Won Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture.
  • Some Like It Hot (1959), Director. A 1959 comedy from his versatile 1950s run.
  • The Apartment (1960), Director. A 1960 film from a career spanning five decades in Hollywood.

Movies

Quick answers

When was Billy Wilder born?
Billy Wilder was born on 22 June 1906.

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