Wilder, Billy, originally Samuel Wilder 1906-
US filmmaker

Born in Sucha, Austria, he studied law at Vienna University, then worked as a journalist and crime reporter, before making his film debut in Germany as the co-writer of Menschen am Sonntag (1929, People on Sunday). In Paris he co-directed Mauvaise Graine (1933) before moving to Hollywood and embarking on a fruitful collaboration with writer Charles Brackett. Their scripts include Ninotchka (1939) and Ball of Fire (1941). A US citizen from 1934, he made his directorial debut in the USA with The Major and the Minor (1942), then began a distinguished career as the creator of incisive dramas, acerbic comedies and bittersweet romances, winning multiple Academy Awards for The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950, staged in 1993 by Andrew Lloyd Webber) and The Apartment (1960). His many popular successes include Double Indemnity (1944), The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Some Like It Hot (1959). He made seven films with actor Jack Lemmon, including his final one Buddy, Buddy (1981) and worked with writer I A L Diamond from 1957. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1993.