Billy Wilder 1906-2002
In an unbelievable boost to those who love to claim that famous people die in threes, Variety is reporting that writer/director/legend Billy Wilder died Wednesday night (3/27/02) of pneumonia in Beverly Hills. Mr. Wilder was 95. Born in Vienna, Billy Wilder, with his writing partner Charles Brackett, and later with I.A.L. Diamond, created some of the greatest films ever made. Wilder directed such diverse works as Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, A Foreign Affair, Sunset Blvd., Stalag 17, Sabrina, Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot and The Apartment (to name just a few). He was nominated for 21 Academy Awards® in his life; he won seven (including an Irving Thalberg Memorial Award). Any one of these films would have earned him the title of one of our greatest directors. Taken together they are a legacy that few have equaled or will ever equal.
What a filmography! (And that's "just a few"!) Red-hot during the post-war baby-boom years (late '40s-early '60s). Several great collaborations each with Bill Holden and Jack Lemmon. Definitely a top-ten (maybe a top-five) director of all time.