Erich von Stroheim
Born	Erich Oswald Stroheim September 22, 1885(1885-09-22) Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died	May 12, 1957 (aged 71) Maurepas, France

Erich von Stroheim (September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian star of the silent film age, lauded for his directorial work in which he was a proto-auteur. Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich As an actor, he is noted for his arrogant Teutonic character parts which led him to be described as "not a character actor, but what a character!". Playing villainous hun roles during the Great War, he became known as "The Man You Love to Hate". The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy

Background

Stroheim's most recent biographers such as Richard Koszarski say that he was born in Vienna, Austria in 1885 as Erich Oswald Stroheim, the son of Benno Stroheim, a middle-class hat-maker, and Johanna Bondy, both of whom were practicing Jews. Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ ^[1]

Stroheim himself claimed to be Count Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim und Nordenwall, the son of Austrian nobility like the characters he played in his films, but both Billy Wilder and Stroheim's agent Paul Kohner claimed that he spoke with a decidedly lower-class Austrian accent. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Billy Wilder ( June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian born Jewish - American Journalist Paul Kohner (born 29 May 1902 in Teplitz-Schoenau ( Teplice) died 16 March 1988 in Los Angeles California) However Jean Renoir writes in his memoirs: “Stroheim spoke hardly any German. Jean Renoir (French ʁəˈnwaʁ ( September 15, 1894 – February 12, 1979) born in the Montmartre district of Paris He had to study his lines like a schoolboy learning a foreign language. ”^[2] Later, while living in Europe, Stroheim claimed in published remarks to have "forgotten" his native tongue.

Stroheim was a great fantasist and his authorized biography contains many factual errors.

Film career

By 1914 he was working in Hollywood. He began working in movies in bit-parts and as a consultant on German culture and fashion. His first film, in 1915, was The Country Boy in which he was uncredited. The Country Boy A Play in Three Acts is a play by Irish playwright John Murphy (1929-1998 His first credited role came in Old Heidelberg.

He began working with D. W. Griffith, taking uncredited roles in Intolerance. David Llewelyn Wark "D W" Griffith (January 22 1875 &ndash July 23 1948 was a premier pioneering Academy Award -winning American Film director. Intolerance Love's Struggle Through the Ages, a Silent film directed by D Later, he played the sneering German in such films as Sylvia of the Secret Service and The Hun Within. In The Heart of Humanity, he tore the buttons from a nurse's uniform with his teeth, and when disturbed by a crying baby, threw it out a window.

Following the end of the First World War, Stroheim turned to writing and then directed his own script for Blind Husbands in 1919. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All He also starred in the film. As a director, Stroheim was known to be dictatorial and demanding, often antagonizing his actors. He is considered one of the greatest directors of the silent era, representing on film his by turns cynical and romantic views of human nature.

His next directorial efforts were the lost film The Devil's Passkey (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), in which he also starred. Foolish Wives ( 1922) is an American Drama Silent film written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. The studio publicity for the Foolish Wives claimed that it was the first film to cost one million dollars.

In 1923, Stroheim began work on his next film Merry-Go-Round. Merry-Go-Round is a 1923 movie by Erich von Stroheim, starring Norman Kerry and Mary Philbin. He cast the American actor Norman Kerry in a part written for himself 'Count Franz Maximilian Von Hohenegg' and newcomer Mary Philbin in the lead actress role. Norman Kerry ( June 16, 1894 – January 12, 1956) was a US actor whose career spanned over twenty-five years in the motion picture Mary Philbin ( July 16, 1903 – May 7, 1993) was a notable film actress of the Silent film era However studio executive Irving Thalberg fired Von Stroheim during filming and replaced him with director Rupert Julian. Irving Grant Thalberg ( May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an Academy Award -winning American Film producer Rupert Julian ( January 25, 1879 - December 27, 1943) was a cinema Actor, director, Writer and

Erich von Stroheim as Sergius Karamzin in Foolish Wives

Probably Stroheim's most famous work as a director is Greed, a detailed filming of the novel McTeague by Frank Norris. Greed is a 1924 dramatic Silent film. One of the most famous Lost films in cinema history it is also considered one of the greatest McTeague is a novel by Frank Norris. First published in 1899, it is set in San Francisco. Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr ( March 5 1870 – October 25 1902) was an American novelist during the Progressive Era, writing Stroheim filmed and originally edited a nine-hour version of the story, shot mostly at the locations described in the book in San Francisco and Death Valley. After his attempts to cut it to less than three hours were rejected by the studio, MGM cut the film to a little over two hours, and, in what is considered one of the greatest losses in cinema history, destroyed the excess footage. The shortened release version was a box-office failure, and was angrily disowned by Stroheim. The film was partially reconstructed in 1999, using the existing footage mixed with surviving still photographs, but Greed has passed into cinema lore as a lost masterpiece.

Stroheim's next films were the commercial project The Merry Widow (his most commercially successful film) and the more personal The Wedding March and the now-lost The Honeymoon.

Stroheim's unwillingness or inability to modify his artistic principles for the commercial cinema, his extreme attention to detail and the resulting costs of his films led to fights with the studios, and as time went on he received fewer directing opportunities.

In 1929 Stroheim was dismissed as the director of the film Queen Kelly after disagreements with star Gloria Swanson and producer and financier Joseph P. Kennedy over the mounting costs of the film and the introduction by Stroheim of indecent subject matter into the film's scenario. Queen Kelly is the title of an American Silent film produced in 1928-29 and released in 1929, originally by United Artists. Gloria Swanson (March 27 1899 – April 4 1983 was an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -winning American Hollywood Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy Sr (September 6 1888 &ndash November 18 1969 was a prominent American businessman and political figure and the father of U

After Queen Kelly and Walking Down Broadway, a project from which Stroheim was also dismissed, Stroheim became principally an actor, working in both the United States and France. He is perhaps best known as an actor for his role as von Rauffenstein in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion and as Max von Mayerling in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard. Jean Renoir (French ʁəˈnwaʁ ( September 15, 1894 – February 12, 1979) born in the Montmartre district of Paris Grand Illusion (French La Grande Illusion) is a 1937 war Film directed by Jean Renoir (1894–1979 the son of artist Pierre-Auguste Billy Wilder ( June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian born Jewish - American Journalist Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American Film noir classic Directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, it was named For the latter film, which co-starred Gloria Swanson, Stroheim was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts Excerpts from Queen Kelly were used in the film. The Mayerling character states that he used to be one of the three great directors of the silent era, along with D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille; many film critics agree that Stroheim was indeed one of the great early directors. David Llewelyn Wark "D W" Griffith (January 22 1875 &ndash July 23 1948 was a premier pioneering Academy Award -winning American Film director. Cecil Blount DeMille ( August 12, 1881 – January 21, 1959) was an Academy Award -winning American Film director

In the 1932 movie The Lost Squadron he parodied his image when he starred as a detail-obsessed German film director who tells soldier extras, that when they are "dead" they are to stay dead!

In 1935, Stroheim's only novel to be published in English Paprika was published by Macaulay. Paprika is the sensationalized story of the life and death of a gypsy femme fatale. The Romani people (singular Rom, plural Roma as a Noun; also known as Romanies or Roma people) are an ethnic group with origins A femme fatale (plural femmes fatales) is an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire often leading them into

In 1939 Stroheim was working on a project in which he was to direct a film in France called "La Dame Blanche" which was to star Louis Jouvet and Jean-Louis Barrault. Louis Jouvet ( December 24, 1887 - August 16, 1951) was a renowned French actor and producer Jean-Louis Barrault ( September 8, 1910 – January 22 1994 in Le Vésinet) was a French Actor, director The production of the film, however, was interrupted by the war and the film was never made.

Stroheim was married several times, the last time shortly before his death, to actress Denise Vernac, who had been his longtime secretary and companion, and who starred with him in several films. Denise Vernac ( June 3, 1916 - October 31, 1984) was a French film actress and also film maker Erich von Stroheim 's secretary and constant

Stroheim spent the last part of his life in France where his silent film work was much admired by artists in the French film industry. In France he acted in films, wrote several novels that were published in French, and worked on various unrealized film projects. He was awarded the French Légion d'honneur shortly before his death in 1957 in Maurepas, France at the age of 71. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

Filmography (as director)

• Blind Husbands (1919)
• The Devil's Passkey (1920)
• Foolish Wives (1922)
• Merry-Go-Round (1923)
• Greed (1924)
• The Merry Widow (1925)
• The Wedding March (1928)
• The Honeymoon (1928)
• Queen Kelly (1929)
• Walking Down Broadway aka Hello, Sister (1933)

Quotes

"Lubitsch shows you first the king on the throne, then as he is in the bedroom. Foolish Wives ( 1922) is an American Drama Silent film written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. Merry-Go-Round is a 1923 movie by Erich von Stroheim, starring Norman Kerry and Mary Philbin. Greed is a 1924 dramatic Silent film. One of the most famous Lost films in cinema history it is also considered one of the greatest The Merry Widow is a 1925 American MGM Romantic drama film and Black comedy directed and written by Erich von Stroheim The Wedding March is a 1928 Silent film directed by and starring Erich von Stroheim. Queen Kelly is the title of an American Silent film produced in 1928-29 and released in 1929, originally by United Artists. I show you the king in the bedroom so you'll know just what he is when you see him on his throne. "^[3]

"If you live in France, for instance, and you have written one good book, or painted one good picture, or directed one outstanding film fifty years ago and nothing else since, you are still recognized and honored accordingly. People take their hats off to you and call you "maitre". They do not forget. In Hollywood --in Hollywood, you're as good as your last picture. If you didn't have one in production within the last three months, you're forgotten, no matter what you have achieved ere this. "^[4]

Notes

External links

• Erich von Stroheim at the Internet Movie Database

• All about Erich
• The Stroheim Wing
• The Great Gabbo (Portrait of Erich)
• Find-A-Grave profile for Erich von Stroheim
• The Films of Erich von Stroheim, ToxicUniverse.com article by Dan Callahan
• Blind Biographers: The Invention of Erich von Stroheim
• Stroheim's Review of Citizen Kane, June 1941
• The Man They Loved to Hate
• Bibliography