Otto Ludwig Preminger (December 5, 1906 – April 23, 1986) was a film director. Born in Vienna, of assimilated Jewish ancestry, he worked with Max Reinhardt before emigrating to America. At first he directed and acted for 20th Century Fox, his Austrian accent typecasting him as a screen Nazi.
After the war, he became one of the most consistent Hollywood directors of the 1950s and early 1960s — delivering intelligent and entertaining films, often literary adaptations, albeit rather melodramatic or heavy-going on occasion.
Notable films include Anatomy of a Murder with James Stewart and Ben Gazzara, Advise and Consent with an on-form Charles Laughton, and Bonjour Tristesse with David Niven and Deborah Kerr.
Through a relationship with Gypsy Rose Lee he had one child, the screenwriter Eric Lee Preminger .
Otto Preminger died in 1986 and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York.
Filmography
Awards
Preminger received one Oscar nomination for Best Picture for Anatomy of a Murder. He was twice nominated for the best director award for Laura and for The Cardinal.
