Walter Wanger

Walter Wanger

Infobox Actor
name = Walter Wanger
birthname = Walter Feuchtwanger
birthdate = birth date|1894|7|11
location = San Francisco, California
deathdate = death date and age|1968|11|18|1894|7|11
deathplace = New York City, New York
spouse = Justine Johnstone (1919-1938) Joan Bennett (1940-1965)
academyawards = Academy Honorary Award 1946 Lifetime Achievement 1949 "Joan of Arc"

Walter Wanger (July 11, 1894November 18, 1968) was an Academy Award-winning American film producer. His long, colorful career is one of Hollywood's greatest untold stories. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career started at Paramount studios in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a contract producer or an independent.

For the most complete sense of Walter Wanger's life and film career, read Matthew Bernstein's book "Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent" and "The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era" by Thomas Schatz. Wanger was born Walter Feuchtwanger in San Francisco, California. He served with the United States Army during World War I. He attended Dartmouth college in New Hampshire.

He produced his first motion picture in 1929 titled "The Cocoanuts", directed by Robert Florey and Joseph Santley and starring the Marx Brothers. His many significant productions include "The Sheik" (1921), "Gabriel Over the White House" (1933), "Queen Christina" (1933), "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" (1936), "Stagecoach" (1939), "Foreign Correspondent" (1940), "Scarlet Street" (1945), "Joan of Arc" (1948), "The Reckless Moment" (1949), "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), "I Want to Live!" (1958), and "Cleopatra" (1963).

Wanger married silent film actress Justine Johnstone in 1919. They divorced in 1938 and in 1940 he married Joan Bennett with whom he remained married until their divorce in 1965. They had two daughters, Stephanie (born 1943) and Shelley Antonia (born 1948), and Wanger adopted Bennett's daughter, Diana, by her marriage to John Marion Fox. In 1950, Bennett signed with MCA agent Jennings Lang (1915-1996). In 1951, Wanger shot at Lang after believing him to be having an affair with Bennett. Wanger's attorney, Jerry Giesler, mounted a "temporary insanity" defense and Wanger served a four-month sentence at the Castaic Honor Farm two hours' drive north of Los Angeles. The experience profoundly affected him and in 1954 he made the prison film "Riot in Cell Block 11".

Wanger was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1946 for his service as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He refused another honorary Oscar in 1949 for "Joan of Arc", out of anger over the fact that the film, which he felt was one of his best, had not been nominated for Best Picture.

His 1958 production of "I Want to Live!" starred Susan Hayward in an anti-capital punishment film that is one of the most highly regarded films on the subject. Hayward won her only Oscar for her role in the film.

In May 1966, Wanger received the Commendation of the Order of Merit, Italy's third-highest honor, from Consul General Alvaro v. Bettrani, "for your friendship and cooperation with the Italian government in all phases of the motion picture industry."

Walter Wanger died of a heart attack, aged 74, in New York City. He was interred in the Home of Peace Cemetery in Colma, California.

External links

*imdb name|id= 0911137|name=Walter Wanger
* [http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/walter-wanger_shooting.htm Article on Wanger shooting Jennings Lang]

###@@@KEY@@@###


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Walter Wanger — Walter Wanger, eigentlich Walter Feuchtwanger (* 11. Juli 1894 in San Francisco, Kalifornien, USA; † 18. November 1968 in Santa Monica, Kalifornien, USA), war ein US amerikanischer Filmproduzent. Wangers Produktionsfirma Walter Wangers… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Walter Wanger — fue un productor de cine estadounidense nacido el 11 de julio de 1894 en San Francisco. Su verdadero nombre era Wanger Feuchtwanger. Era hijo de una familia acomodada de clase media alta. Era el tercero de cuatro hermanos. Su padre era un… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Walter Wanger — est un producteur américain né le 11 juillet 1894 à San Francisco, Californie (États Unis), décédé le 18 novembre 1968 à New York (New York). Il a été marié à l actrice Joan Bennett de 1940 à 1965. Biographie Filmographie 1929 : Noix de coco …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Walter Wanger — Wa l t e r Feuchtwanger …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • Wanger — ist der Name folgender Personen: Jörg Wanger (* 1979), liechtensteinischer Musiker Karl Wanger (* 1930), deutscher Fußballer Klaus Wanger (* 1941), liechtensteinischer Politiker Walter Wanger (1894–1968), US amerikanischer Filmproduzent …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Walter Mirisch — Walter M. Mirisch (* 8. November 1921 in New York City, New York) ist ein US amerikanischer Filmproduzent. Leben Walter Mirisch ist einer der erfolgreichsten US amerikanischen Filmproduzenten. Er erhielt zahlreiche Auszeichnungen für seine… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wanger — can refer to:* Needs More Wanger (2003), the first album put out by USENET punk rock band Interröbang Cartel * Walter Wanger (1894 1968), American film producer * Wanger Township, Minnesota * British English slang for the breast (wangers plu.)… …   Wikipedia

  • Karl Wanger —  Karl Wanger Spielerinformationen Geburtstag 9. Februar 1930 Geburtsort Roxheim, Deutschland Position Linksaußen Vereine in der Jugend …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Joan Bennett — Infobox actor imagesize = 220px caption = in The Son of Monte Cristo (fy|1940) birthname = Joan Geraldine Bennett birthdate = birth date|1910|2|27 birthplace = Palisades Park, New Jersey, U.S. deathdate = Death date and age|1990|12|7|1910|2|27… …   Wikipedia

  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers — Infobox Film name = Invasion of the Body Snatchers image size = caption = Theatrical poster director = Don Siegel producer = Walter Wanger writer = Novel: Jack Finney Screenplay: Daniel Mainwaring Uncredited: Richard Collins narrator = starring …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”