38 Facts About Walter Wanger

Walter Wanger began at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and eventually worked at virtually every major studio as either a contract producer or an independent.

Walter Wanger served as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1939 to October 1941 and from December 1941 to 1945.

Strongly influenced by European films, Wanger developed a reputation as an intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas.

Walter Wanger achieved notoriety when, in 1951, he shot and wounded the agent of his wife, Joan Bennett, because he suspected they were having an affair.

Walter Wanger was convicted of the crime and served a four-month sentence, then returned to making movies.

Walter Wanger was the son of Stella and Sigmund Feuchtwanger, who were from German Jewish families that had emigrated to the United States in the nineteenth century.

Walter Wanger was from a non-observant Jewish family, and later attended Episcopalian services with his wife.

Walter Wanger attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he was a founding member of the Dartmouth Laboratory Theatre.

Walter Wanger initially returned to theatre production, before a chance meeting with film producer Jesse Lasky drew him into the world of commercial filmmaking.

The film helped establish the popularity of the Orientalist genre, which Walter Wanger returned to a number of times during his career.

Walter Wanger travelled to Britain where he worked as a prominent cinema and theatre manager until 1924.

Walter Wanger's second spell with Paramount lasted from 1924 to 1931, during which time his annual wage rose from $150,000 to $250,000.

Walter Wanger was tasked with overseeing the work of the studio heads, which meant he had little involvement with the production of individual films.

Walter Wanger opposed this move and felt he was being squeezed out of the company.

Walter Wanger convinced his colleagues of the importance of sound, and personally oversaw the conversion of 1928 silent baseball film Warming Up to sound.

Walter Wanger had been informed that his contract would not be renewed, and he had already left the company.

Walter Wanger was recruited by Harry Cohn, the studio's co-founder, who wanted to move Columbia away from its Poverty Row past by producing several special, large-budget productions each year to complement the bulk of the studio's low-budget films.

Walter Wanger was to take on a greater personal role in individual films than he had previously, although he always attempted to give directors and screenwriters creative freedom.

Walter Wanger's best known work there is Queen Christina, a costume drama starring MGM's top female star at the time, Greta Garbo.

Walter Wanger was responsible for enlisting director Rouben Mamoulian to direct the picture and when released to theatre's in 1933, Queen Christina was a huge success, bringing a profit of over $600,000 and garnering much critical acclaim, establishing Walter Wanger as a successful Hollywood producer.

Walter Wanger would become well known for his education over entertainment pictures that often carried social messages and while Gabriel Over the White House became a critical and commercial hit, it faded into obscurity due to Adolf Hitler's rise to power that same year.

Walter Wanger, now established as a Hollywood producer, set himself up as independent for a second time, more successfully.

Walter Wanger's pictures reached a commercial and critical peak form the late 30's to the mid 40's with films like Algiers, Stagecoach, Foreign Correspondent, Arabian Nights, and Scarlet Street under his belt with his Walter Wanger Productions.

Walter Wanger was able to obtain a contract star with Charles Boyer who signed to the producer in 1935 for a 5 year contract.

Walter Wanger was made a star under Wanger with films like Shanghai and his famous performance as thief on the run Pepe Le Moko in Algiers which garnered Boyer an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a leading role.

Walter Wanger collaborated with German director Fritz Lang on films like Scarlet Street which was a huge hit for the duo.

Walter Wanger pioneered social commentary in films and introduced the first Technicolor film to be filmed outdoors with The Trail of the Lonesome Pine which made Henry Fonda and Fred MacMurray stars.

Walter Wanger was a huge help to Universal Pictures in the 1940s, introducing Technicolor to them with Arabian Nights, as well as producing the aforementioned Scarlet Street for them, and other hits like Eagle Squadron.

Walter Wanger was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1946 for his six years service as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Walter Wanger refused another honorary Oscar in 1949 for Joan of Arc, out of anger over the fact that the film, which he felt was one of his best, had not been nominated for Best Picture.

In 1963, Walter Wanger was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for his production of Cleopatra.

Walter Wanger died of a heart attack, aged 74, in New York City.

Walter Wanger was interred in the Home of Peace Cemetery in Colma, California.

In 1951, Walter Wanger made headlines for shooting at Jennings Lang, agent of Walter Wanger's wife Joan Bennett.

Walter Wanger, who saw the parked car of his wife, waited there until Bennett came back to her car, in company of Lang.

Walter Wanger was booked on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder.

Walter Wanger blamed the trouble on financial setbacks involving film productions Wanger was involved with, and said he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Walter Wanger served a four-month sentence in the County Honor Farm at Castaic.