Wilder, << WYL duhr, >> Billy (1906-2002), was a leading motion-picture director, producer, and writer. His movies combine technical skill, witty dialogue, and a rather cynical realism about human behavior. Wilder often worked with other writers on his scripts. Wilder’s films vary in tone. They include the romantic comedies Major and the Minor (1942) and Sabrina (1954); the tragic Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Witness for the Prosecution (1958); the seriocomic A Foreign Affair (1948), Stalag 17 (1953), and The Apartment (1960); and the satirical Some Like It Hot (1959), One, Two, Three (1961), The Fortune Cookie (1966), and The Front Page (1974). Wilder won Academy Awards as best director for The Lost Weekend and The Apartment. He also shared an Academy Award for best screenplay for The Apartment with his long-time collaborator, I. A. L. Diamond.
Wilder was born Samuel Wilder on June 22, 1906, in Vienna, Austria. He came to the United States in 1934 and became a U.S. citizen in 1940. He died on March 27, 2002.
