Nobody's Perfect: Billy Wilder, a Personal Biography
- ISBN-10
- 0743217098
- ISBN-13
- 9780743217095
- Series
- Nobody's Perfect
- Category
- Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts
- Pages
- 352
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2002
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Author
- Charlotte Chandler
Description
"'Nobody's perfect' is the line that most sums up my work," Billy Wilder told writer Charlotte Chandler. "There is no comedy, no drama about perfect people."
Film is the Cinderella Art of the 20th century, and Billy Wilder was one of its most legendary figures. When he died recently, Wilder left behind an incredible celluloid legacy. "Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, Double Indemnity, The Apartment, Lost Weekend, Sabrina," and other Wilder films have become a part of our shared experience and collective memory.
In "Nobody's Perfect," Billy Wilder speaks for himself, in what is as close to an autobiography as there ever will be. Charlotte Chandler, author of earlier authorized biographies of Groucho Marx and Federico Fellini, met Wilder in the mid-1970s and began a friendship that continued until his death. Over the course of more than twenty years, she interviewed not only Wilder, but many of the actors and other creative people who worked with him. The result is this remarkable book, a very personal look at one of Hollywood's true creative geniuses.
In a life as dramatic as his films, Wilder survived World War I and escaped the Holocaust, though his mother and grandmother both died at Auschwitz. When he arrived in Hollywood, he found himself a writer without a language, a man without a country.
Wilder's great gift as a screenwriter soon became apparent, as did his easy rapport with actors. As a writer-director, he worked with such stars as Greta Garbo, William Holden, Tony Curtis, Barbara Stanwyck, Marlene Dietrich, Ginger Rogers, Gloria Swanson, Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Marilyn Monroe -- most of whom were interviewedfor this book.
He gave Garbo her laugh, Swanson her comeback, Holden his stardom, Lemmon a career, Matthau an Oscar, and contributed greatly to Marilyn Monroe's immortality.
Actors from Wilder's films talk enthusiastically about Wilder. Danielle Darrieux, the star of the first picture he directed, remembers him from 1933. Ginger Rogers tells how "The Major and the Minor" paralleled her own life. Jack Lemmon reveals how wearing a dress affected him as a man. Tony Curtis talks about what it was like to work with Billy Wilder -- and under Marilyn Monroe.
Chandler's conversations with Wilder and the others began when he was still a working director and continued through the time he was retired but didn't know it. A man of the 20th century, Billy Wilder lived into the 21st century, alone from his time, a legend forever.
This revealing and vastly entertaining book is a wonderful, timely tribute to this great writer-director, a legacy of Wilder's wit, insight, and remarkable wisdom.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2021-12-03
- 26 pages
- Ebook
- American Psychological Association
Similar books
-
Lady Sings the Blues
By Billie Holiday, William DuftyIn a poignant, dramatic memoir, Billie Holiday tells not only of her rise to fame as a blues singer, but also of the exploitation and racial prejudice she encountered as well as of her struggle with heroin addiction.
-
The Great American Popular Singers
By Henry Pleasants... Judy , 343 Knight , Fuzzy , 283 Koehler , Ted , 28 Kristofferson , Kris , 354 , 369 , 370 Krupa , Gene , 146 Jackson , Jeanette , 200 Jackson , Mahalia , 30 , 75 , 198 , 199– 203 , 205–12 , 265 , 276 , 320 , 325 , 326 , 364 Jagger ...
-
A Biographical Handbook of Hispanics and United States Film
By Gary D. Keller... II , 93 Kolb , Keith , I , 198 Korda , Alexander , II , 69 Kosloff , Theodore , I , 76 ; II , 76 Kotero , Apollonia , II , 93 Kramer , Stanley , I , 128 , 136 , 187 ; II , 161 Krantz , Jacob , see Cortez , Ricardo Kristofferson ...
-
Bogey: The Films of Humphrey Bogart
By Clifford McCartyNorman Holdsworth Charles Drake Dr. Grant Grant Mitchell Detective Lt. Egan Patrick O'Moore Nora Grant Ann Shoemaker Robert Freston Frank Wilcox Phillips Edwin Stanley Detective Lt. Workman James Flavin Mrs. Allman Mary Servoss With ...
-
Robert Altman: Interviews
By Robert Altman... 98 Gods Must Be Crazy , The ( Uys ) , 174 Goldberg , Whoopi , 165 , 174 Goldblum , Jeff , 186 Golden Globe Awards ... 58 , 183 Hale , Alan , 3 Hall , Angela , 165 Hammett , Dashiell , 199 Hand That Rocks the Cradle , The ( Hanson ) ...
-
Wong Kar-Wai: Auteur of Time
By Stephen TeoThis, the first book-length study of Hong Kong cult director Wong Kar-wai, provides an overview of his career and in-depth analyses of his seven feature films to date.
-
An Actor, and a Rare One: Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes
By Tony EarnshawAfter the inquest , Holmes speaks with Inspector Lanner and Miss Turner . Lanner sees no hope for McCarthy , but Holmes thinks differently . He quizzes Miss Turner on her relationship with McCarthy , and she reveals they had hoped to ...
-
The Complete Films of Marlene Dietrich
By Homer DickensThrough a clever bit of business , the boys put over a big deal with a steel tycoon named Morgan Prentiss ( Samuel S. Hinds ) , and soon Pittsburgh has gone highbrow by marrying the boss's daughter Shannon ( Louise Allbritton ) .
-
Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey
By Brian SibleyWritten with Jackson's full participation, this extensive biography, illustrated with never-before-seen photos from Jackson's personal collection, tells the inside story of how a New Zealander became Hollywood's hottest property?from the ...
-
卓别林
By 孙鹏著本书主要内容包括：童年时光；初次登台；不安定的日子；舞蹈班的一员；艰难时日；初露锋芒；奔波在卡诺；第一次出国等。