Otto Preminger

Otto Preminger
Preminger in 1976, by Allan Warren
Born	Otto Ludwig Preminger (1905-12-05)5 December 1905 Wiznitz, Austria-Hungary (present-day Vyzhnytsia, Ukraine)
Died	23 April 1986(1986-04-23) (aged 80) New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Lung cancer Alzheimer's disease
Occupation	Director, producer, actor
Years active	1931–86
Spouse(s)	Marion Mill (m. 1932–49) (d.1972) Mary Gardner (m. 1951–59) (d.1998) Hope Bryce (m. 1971–86)

Otto Ludwig Preminger (/ˈprɛməndʒɪər/,German pronunciation: [ˈpreːmiŋɐ]; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an American theatre and film director, originally from Austria-Hungary.

He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gained attention for film noir mysteries such as Laura (1944) and Fallen Angel (1945), while in the 1950s and '60s, he directed a number of high-profile adaptations of popular novels and stage works. Several of these later films pushed the boundaries of censorship by dealing with topics which were then taboo in Hollywood, such as drug addiction (The Man with the Golden Arm, 1955), rape (Anatomy of a Murder, 1959) and homosexuality (Advise & Consent, 1962). He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. He also had a few acting roles.

Preminger was born in 1905 in Wiznitz, Bukovina, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Vyzhnytsia, Ukraine), into a Jewish family. His parents were Josefa (née Fraenkel) and Markus Preminger. The couple provided a stable home life for Preminger and his younger brother Ingwald, known as "Ingo", later the producer of the original film version of M*A*S*H (1970).