Otto Preminger

Otto Ludwig Preminger or Otto the Ogre was born on December 5, 1905 in the Ukraine. He became a stage director and directed his first film in 1931. He moved to the US in 1936 to be a stage director. In 1944 his first film success was Laura.
For two decades starting in 1944, Preminger was one of the top directors in Europe and Hollywood. He was very powerful, but by 1962 when he directed Advise & Consent (1962). Preminger began to lose his touch. He did continue to direct well into the 1970s with Rosebud (1975) and The Human Factor (1979) as part of his credits.
Preminger is known as the director who broke new ground by filming controversial and taboo topics. He challenged the censorship rules by filming The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) about heroin addiction, Anatomy of a Murder (1959) including courtroom discussions of rape, and by hiring Hollywood backlisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for Exodus. Preminger adapted two operas for the screen industry. Carmen Jones (1954) and Porgy and Bess (1959) based on a George Gershwin opera.
Preminger directed Exodus (1960) and was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956. Preminger holds a law degree and appeared in the 1966 movie of Batman (he was Mr. Freeze).
Preminger is reputed to be a bully as well as ungrateful and difficult to work with. His personal life was suspect and he lived in an open relationship with his wife Marion. They divorced in 1949. In December 1951 Preminger married Mary Gardner, divorced her in 1959 and married Hope Bryce in December 1971. They had two children. Preminger died on April 23 1986 in New City due to lung cancer and Alzheimer's disease.