Otto Ludwig Preminger was born in Vienna, Austria on December 5, 1905. He made his acting debut in Max Reinhardt’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1922. In the mid.1920s. Preminger became assistant director to Reinhardt and stage director at Komedie and Schauspielhaus, Vienna. At the same time, he studied law and obtained his degree as Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1928. From 1928 to 1934, he was producer and director at Reinhardt’s Theater in der Josefstadt. In the meantime, in 1931, he directed the German speaking film ‘Die Grosse Liebe.’
In 1934 he left for England and in 1935 move abroad to the USA. From 1935-51 he worked for 20th Century Fox, first as assistant director to Ernst Lubitsch. In 1936-42 he also acted on stage and in films and directed the ‘Libel’ (1936), he then directed and produced ‘Outward Bound’ (1938); ‘Margin for Error’ (in which he also acted, 1938); ‘My Dear Children’ (1940), and ‘In Time to Come’ (1941). As film actor he appeared in ‘Pied Piper’ (1942), ‘They Got Me Covered’ (1943) and ‘Stalag 17’ (1953).
Preminger was appointed an associate professor at Yale University from1938-41. After that he turned to directing for Fox Studios. Films directed by him included: ‘A Royal Scandal’ and ‘Laura’ (both 1944); ‘Fallen Angel’ and ‘Centennial Summer’ (both 1945); ‘Forever Amber’ (1947); ‘Daisy Kenyon’ (1948); ‘Whirlpool’ (1949); ‘Where the Sidewalks Ends’ and ‘The 13th Letter’ (both 1950) and ‘Angel Face’ (1952).
In 1953 Preminger became, an independent producer His major productions were: ‘The Moon is Blue’ and ‘River of No Return’ (both 1953); ‘Carmen Jones’ (1954); ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’ and ‘The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell’ (1955); ‘Saint Joan’ (1957); ‘Bonjour Tristesse’ (1958); ‘Porgy and Bess’ and ‘Anatomy of Murder’ (1959); ‘Exodus’ (1960); ‘Advise and Consent’ (1961); ‘The Cardinal’ (1963); ‘Bunny Lake is Missing’ (1965); ‘Such Good Friends’ (1972); ‘Rosebund’ (1975); and ‘The Human Factor’ (1980).
He also staged, directed and produced a number of Broadway plays including ‘The Moon is Blue’ (1951); ‘Critic’s Choice’ (1960) and Erich Maria Remarque’s ‘Full Circle’ (1973).
Preminger became one of the most controversial and important directors of his time breaking many Hollywood taboos. These included subjects filmed (such as drug addiction in ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’,) words used such as: virgin, seduced and pregnant in ‘The Moon is Blue’, which were unspoken on screen before, and employing well known writers who were on the Hollywood blacklist (for instance screen writer, Dalton Trumbo, who wrote ‘Exodus’.)
During his illustrious prolific career Preminger directed thirty-seven films, produced twenty-seven and acted in seven. He was honored with the Grand Cross by the Republic of Austria (1961), the Grand Cross of Merit and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre by The Vatican for ‘The Cardinal’ (1963).
Otto Peminger died in New York on April 23, 1986