Personal Info
Known For
Directing
Birthdate
1902-07-01
Day of Death
1981-07-27
Place of Birth
Mülhausen, Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire [now Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin, France]
William Wyler
Biography
William Wyler (July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a German-born film director, producer, and screenwriter. Notable works include Ben-Hur (1959), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Mrs. Miniver (1942), all which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture. He earned his first Oscar nomination for directing Dodsworth in 1936, sparking a 20-year run of almost unbroken greatness. Film historian Ian Freer calls Wyler a "bona fide perfectionist," whose penchant for retakes and an attempt to hone every last nuance "became the stuff of legend." His ability to direct a string of classic literary adaptations into huge box office and critical successes made him one of Hollywood's most bankable moviemakers during the 1930s and 1940s.
Filmography (17)
William Wyler: Forty Takes Willy
2025
Hollywood's Second World War
2019
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
2019
The Cold Blue
2018
Five Came Back
2017
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
2005Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film
2002
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
2001
Backstory: 'How Green Was My Valley'
2000
Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic
1993
Directed by William Wyler
1986
Laurence Olivier: a life
1982
Fun in the Big Country
1958
