[EAS]Billy Wilder Dead at 95

[pjk]

Subject:   Billy Wilder Dead at 95

Dear Colleagues -

I recognize that the comments in these mailings are intended to be
at the intersection of technology, education and culture. And
generally they have been. But when my favorite actor, Alec Guiness,
died in August 2000, I sent a personal note at the time
<http://jove.eng.yale.edu/pipermail/eas-info/2000/000172.html>

Permit me another such, now that my favorite director, Billy Wilder,
has died. And let me mention a less well-known film of his, "Avanti"
(1972) <http://us.imdb.com/Title?0068240> which, though a bit long,
never fails to cheer me up.

   --PJK

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(from Scout Report -- March 29, 2002)
<http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sr/2002/scout-020329.html>

Legendary Filmmaker Dies at Age 95

United Press International: Pneumonia kills Hollywood director Wilder
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=29032002-051902-3686r

Films by the Late Billy Wilder
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/wire/sns-ap-wilder-films0328mar28.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlines

American Cinema: A Tribute to Billy Wilder
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Cinema/1012/wilder.html

A Tribute to Billy Wilder - Part II
http://classicfilm.about.com/library/weekly/aa062401b.htm

Billy Wilder's Wit and Wisdom
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/wire/sns-ap-wilder-quotes0328mar28.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlines

Legendary filmmaker Billy Wilder, who went from being a crime
reporter in Vienna and a refugee from Nazism to becoming the creator
of such classic films as Some Like It Hot and Sunset Boulevard, died
at the age of 95 at his home in Beverly Hills this past Wednesday.
With an extensive movie career that spans several decades, Wilder
was the recipient of six Oscars and was the first filmmaker to win
three Academy Awards in a single year. He was a master storyteller
who specialized in exploring the dark side of American life with a
cynicism and humor that few movie makers have ever matched. A
writer, director, and producer, Wilder produced some of the
industry's best dramas, like Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend,
as well as some of its funniest farces -- Some Like It Hot and The
Fortune Cookie. He also was the man who first paired Jack Lemmon and
Walter Matthau, creating one of the screen's most beloved comic
teams.

Wilder was born Samuel Wilder on June 22, 1906, in the Polish town
of Sucha, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother
nicknamed him Billy because of her fascination with the Western hero
Buffalo Bill. In 1924, after briefly attending the University of
Vienna, Wilder landed a job as a police reporter. His aggressive
journalism led him to Berlin, where, enchanted by the city's film
community, he decided to become a movie maker. For more information
on this story, viewers may access the first two articles published
by the United International Press and the Associated Press
respectively. Those interested in a list of Wilder's many films may
access the third site, also by the Associated Press. Sites four and
five both give tribute to this filmmaking icon. Offered by the
American Cinema, the first tribute provides biographical information
on Wilder, as well as information on his filmography, academy
awards, and co-screen writers. The second tribute offers various
links to other Billy Wilder sites. Finally, the last site list
quotations by Billy Wilder taken from "Conversations with Wilder" by
Cameron Crowe.