Former assistant to German stage producer Max Reinhardt who began his directing career with the 1935 Broadway melodrama, "Libel". Preminger then directed a couple of B films at 20th Century-Fox before a dispute with Darryl F. Zanuck temporarily halted his behind-the-camera career. When he found himself in demand as an actor--Preminger's stern features and Viennese accent made him the perfect screen Nazi--he used this new popularity to maneuver his way back into the director's chair. Preminger made his breakthrough with the critical and commercial smash, "Laura" (1944), on which he took over the direction from Rouben Mamoulian. His subsequent work at Fox was disappointing and he began independently producing his own films, through his Carlyle Productions company, in the early 1950s. Preminger soon earned a reputation for turning out controversial works which broached previously taboo subjects such as drug addiction ("The Man With the Golden Arm" 1955).
A skilled technician who lacked any consistently discernable style, Preminger's career encompassed polished successes including "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959), "Exodus" (1960), "Advise and Consent" (1961) and "Bunny Lake is Missing" (1965), alongside notable flops such as "Saint Joan" (1957) and "Rosebud" (1975). Father, by stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, of producer-screenwriter Eric Lee Preminger and brother of agent-turned-producer Ingo Preminger.
- Also Credited As:
Otto Ludwig Preminger
- Born:
December 5, 1906 in Austria
- Died:
April 23, 1986.
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Job Titles:
Director, Producer, Actor, Drama professor, Theater director
Significant Others
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Companion: Dorothy Dandridge.
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Companion: Gypsy Rose Lee. mother of Erik Lee Preminger
Education
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University of Vienna, law, LLD, 1928
Milestones
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1925 Joined German theater in Aussig (now in Czechoslavakia) where he also made his directorial debut with a production of Klabund's "Kreiderkreis/The Chalk Circle"
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1931 Directed first film, "Die Grosse Liebe/The Great Love"
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1931 Handled only law case, a breach-of-contract suit brought by a nightclub owner against actress Marion Mill (whom he represented); Preminger then cast Mill in "The Front Page" which he was directing and married her the following year
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1931 Returned to the Josefstadt as an assistant director
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1932 Took over as director of the Josefstadt when Reinhardt went into semi-retirement
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1935 Directed first Broadway play, "Libel"
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1935 Invited by Joseph M Schenck to work for his newly merged 20th Century-Fox in Hollywood
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1936 Directed first Hollywood film, "Under Your Spell"
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1941 Made Broadway acting debut (replacing another actor) in Clare Boothe Luce's play, "Margin for Error" (also directed)
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1942 Returned to Hollywood as an actor, playing a Nazi officer in "The Pied Piper"
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1943 Hired to recreate his role in "Margin for Error" in film version, Preminger offered to direct and star for only an actor's fee; resulted in a contract with 20th Century-Fox to act, direct and produce
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1944 Hired as producer, he also replaced Rouben Mamoulian as director on film noir classic "Laura"
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1951 Returned to the Broadway stage to direct "Four Twelves Are Forty-Eight" and "The Moon Is Blue"
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1953 Became an independent producer; first film project, "The Moon Is Blue" became first film refused Production Code seal of approval when Preminger refused to delete the words "virgin" "pregnant", "mistress" and "seduction" from the script of the film
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1979 Directed last film, "The Human Factor"
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Acting debut at age 12, the only child among adults at a poetry reading
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After falling out with Darryl F Zanuck, returned to New York and directed seven plays
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Apprenticed at Max Reinhardt's Theater, Josefstadt in Vienna
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Returned to Vienna to launch theater of his own, the Komedia and two years later, the Schauspielhaus while simultaneously studying law at the University of Vienna
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Stage debut as Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Josefstadt Theater (not directed by Reinhardt) at age 17