29 Facts About Ernst Lubitsch

Ernst Lubitsch was a German-American film director, producer, writer, and actor.

Ernst Lubitsch was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director three times for The Patriot, The Love Parade, and Heaven Can Wait.

Ernst Lubitsch's family was Ashkenazi Jewish; his father was born in Grodno in the Russian Empire, and his mother was from Wriezen outside Berlin.

Ernst Lubitsch turned his back on his father's tailoring business to enter the theater, and by 1911 was a member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater.

In 1913, Ernst Lubitsch made his film debut as an actor in The Ideal Wife.

Ernst Lubitsch appeared in approximately 30 films as an actor between 1912 and 1920.

Ernst Lubitsch alternated between escapist comedies and large-scale historical dramas, enjoying great international success with both.

They, along with Ernst Lubitsch's Carmen were selected by The New York Times on its list of the 15 most important movies of 1921.

Ernst Lubitsch sailed to the United States for the first time in December 1921 for what was intended as a lengthy publicity and professional factfinding tour, scheduled to culminate in the February premiere of Pharaoh.

However, with World War I still fresh, and with a slew of German "New Wave" releases encroaching on American movie workers' livelihoods, Ernst Lubitsch was not gladly received.

Ernst Lubitsch cut his trip short after little more than three weeks and returned to Germany.

Ernst Lubitsch finally left Germany for Hollywood in 1922, contracted as a director by Mary Pickford.

Ernst Lubitsch directed Pickford in the film Rosita; the result was a critical and commercial success, but director and star clashed during its filming, and it ended up as the only project that they made together.

Ernst Lubitsch seized upon the advent of sound films to direct musicals.

Ernst Lubitsch served on the faculty of the University of Southern California for a time.

Ernst Lubitsch's next film was a romantic comedy, written with Samson Raphaelson, Trouble in Paradise.

Whether with music, as in MGM's opulent The Merry Widow and Paramount's One Hour with You, or without, as in Design for Living, Ernst Lubitsch continued to specialize in comedy.

Ernst Lubitsch made only one other dramatic film, the antiwar Broken Lullaby.

Ernst Lubitsch subsequently produced his own films and supervised the production of films of other directors.

Ernst Lubitsch was fired after a year on the job, and returned to full-time moviemaking.

In 1939, Ernst Lubitsch moved to MGM, and directed Greta Garbo in Ninotchka.

Garbo and Ernst Lubitsch were friendly and had hoped to work together on a movie for years, but this would be their only project.

Ernst Lubitsch next directed That Uncertain Feeling, a remake of his 1925 film Kiss Me Again; an independent production by Ernst Lubitsch with Sol Lesser, it was not a commercial success.

Ernst Lubitsch followed with a film that has become one of his best regarded comedies, To Be or Not to Be, a witty, dark and insightful film about a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Ernst Lubitsch spent the balance of his career at 20th Century Fox, but a heart condition curtailed his activity, and he spent much of his time in supervisory capacities.

Ernst Lubitsch became ill during shooting, so Lubitsch hired Otto Preminger to finish the film.

In March 1947, Ernst Lubitsch was awarded a Special Academy Award for his "25-year contribution to motion pictures".

Ernst Lubitsch died of a heart attack on November 30,1947, in Hollywood at the age of 55.

On February 8,1960, Ernst Lubitsch received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion pictures industry, at 7040 Hollywood Blvd.