Name
William Wyler
Known For
Directing
Birthday
1902-07-01
Deathday
1981-07-27 (79 years old)
Place of Birth
Mülhausen, Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire [now Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin, France]
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.
Known For
7.9
Overwhelmed by her suffocating schedule, touring European princess Ann takes off for a nig...
7.06
Tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detect...
7.6
Retired wealthy sea captain Jim McKay arrives in the Old West, where he becomes embroiled ...
7.19
Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their est...
7.511
A woman must steal a statue from a Paris museum to help conceal her father's art forgeries...
7.143
The life of famed 1930s comedienne Fanny Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of...
7.745
It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will fina...
7.672
An unruly student at a private all-girls boarding school scandalously accuses the two wome...
7.4
A man kidnaps a woman and holds her hostage just for the pleasure of having her there....
- 1936 Dodsworth as Violin Player in Dance Orchestra (uncredited)
- 2005 Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema as Self (archive footage)
- 1958 Fun in the Big Country as Self
- 1993 Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic as Self - Director (archive footage)
- 1946 The Best Years of Our Lives as Drug Store customer (uncredited)
- 2019 Hollywood's Second World War as Self (archive footage)
- 1951 The Screen Director as Self (staged 'archive' footage) (uncredited)
- 2018 The Cold Blue as Himself (archive footage)
- 2019 Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
- 1956 Stars of Cabaret as Self (archive footage)
- 1986 Directed by William Wyler as Self
- 2000 Backstory: 'How Green Was My Valley' as Self (archive footage)
- 2001 Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies as Self
- 2017 Five Came Back as Self (archive footage)
- 2002 Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1982 Laurence Olivier: A Life as Self
- 2025 William Wyler: Forty Takes Willy as Himself (Archival)
- 2006 Stardust: The Bette Davis Story as Self (archive footage)
- 2000 Vivien Leigh: A Delicate Balance as Self (archive footage)
- 1953 The Oscars ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1973 The American Film Institute Salute to ... ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1948 The Ed Sullivan Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1956 Cinépanorama ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1971 Great Performances ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2017 Five Came Back ( 3 episodes ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1980 Hollywood ( 1 episode ) as Self
