ERICH
VON STROHEIM
Biography:
Born Erich Oswald Stroheim in Vienna, Austria on September 22nd, 1885,
Erich Von Stroheim worked at his father's straw hat factory in his youth.
He emigrated to America in 1909, and in 1914, he joined D.W. Griffith's
ensemble as a bit player and an assistant director. As America entered
World War I, an anti-German sentiment quickly developed, and Von Stroheim
took full advantage of it, playing a monocled Hun officer in numerous films.
By that time, the studios had nicknamed him "the man you love to hate."
His true passion, however,
was directing. His impressive debut as a director came with 1919's Blind
Husband, which he also wrote, designed sets for and starred in. It
was both a commercial and critical success for Universal Pictures. However,
Von Stroheim was a perfectionist with a passion for minor details and a
love for material considered risque. He would also like to produce extremely
lengthy pictures (for example, 1924's Greed, which in its original
cut ran over 9 hours before it was re-edited by the studio to 140 minutes).
His ultimate downfall as a director came with 1929's Queen Kelly,
a film that was way over budget and never completed nor released in the
United States (details on the production at the Gloria
Swanson Page). With studios more budget conscious and with the advent
of sound, had only one more directorial credit after that fiasco, 1932's
Walking Down Broadway.
He did continue his career as an actor, forever typecast in the
role of a Hun for many years to come. In 1950, he did what was to be his
final role, Max Von Mayerling in Sunset Boulevard. The role had
striking parallels to reality; within the film, an excerpt from his ill-fated
Queen Kelly was featured as an early film of Norma Desmond, Gloria
Swanson's role. His performance earned him his only Academy Award
nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. In the mid-1950s, he moved France.
While in Paris, Swanson contacted him about possibly reprising his role
as Max in a planned musical version of the film (not to be confused with
the Andrew Lloyd Webber production, this version did not make it past development).
He declined due to health reasons, and died in Maurepas on May 12th, 1957.
Filmography:
| White - As an Actor |
Yellow - As a Director |
Green - As a Writer |
Blue - Multiple Credits |
| 1. The Birth of a Nation (1915) |
15. The Merry Widow (1925) |
28. Between Two Women (1937) |
| 2. Old Heidelberg (1915) |
16. The Wedding March (1928) |
29. Grand Illusion (1937) |
| 3. Intolerance (1916) |
17. Queen Kelly (1929) |
30. Personal Column (1939) |
| 4. The Social Secretary (1916) |
18. The Great Gabbo (1929) |
31. I Was an Adventuress (1940) |
| 5. Panthea (1917) |
19. Three Faces East (1930) |
32. So Ends Our Night (1941) |
| 6. Vengeance is Mine (1917) |
20. Friends and Lovers (1931) |
33. Five Graves to Cairo (1943) |
| 7. Hearts of the World (1918) |
21. As You Desire Me (1932) |
34. The North Star (1943) |
| 8. The Hun Within (1918) |
22. The Lost Squadron (1932) |
35. The Lady and the Monster (1944) |
| 9. Blind Husbands (1919) |
23. Walking Down Broadway (1932) |
36. Storm Over Lisbon (1944) |
| 10. The Devil's Passkey (1920) |
24. Crimson Romance (1934) |
37. The Great Flamarion (1945) |
| 11. Foolish Wives (1922) |
25. Fugitive Road (1934) |
38. Scotland Yard Investigator (1945) |
| 12. Merry-Go-Round (1923) |
26. The Crime of Dr. Crespi (1935) |
39. The Mask of Dijon (1946) |
| 13. Souls For Sale (1923) |
27. The Devil-Doll (1936) |
40. Sunset Boulevard (1950) |
| 14. Greed (1925) |
|
|
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