Erich von Stroheim

Erich von Stroheim was born Erich Oswald Stroheim in 1885, in Vienna, Austria, to Johanna (Bondy), from Prague, and Benno Stroheim, a hatter from Gleiwitz, Germany (now Gliwice, Poland). His family was Jewish.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 1069-1079. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company (1987).

After spending some time working in his father's hat factory, he emigrated to America around 1909.

While working at the tavern, he met his first wife, Margaret Knox, and in a daring move for 1912 moved in with her. Knox acted as a sort of mentor to him, teaching him language and literature and encouraging him to write. Under Knox's tutelage he wrote a novella entitled "In the Morning", with themes that anticipated his films: corrupt aristocracy and innocence debased. The couple married on February 19, 1913, but money woes drove him to deep depressions and terrible temper tantrums, which he took out on Knox. Not long after the marriage she left him, and in May 1914 filed for divorce.

Althugh he claimed to have broken two ribs when he fell from a roof in The Birth of a Nation (1915), there is some question as to whether he actually worked on that film at all. Joseph Henabery, one of the picture's assistant directors, says that von Stroheim didn't work for director D.W. Griffith until more than a year after this film was shot.

He has appeared in five films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Intolerance (1916), Foolish Wives (1922), Greed (1924), The Wedding March (1928) and Sunset Boulevard (1950). He has also directed three films that are in the registry: Foolish Wives, Greed and The Wedding March.

Under contract at Universal Pictures (as actor/director), 1918-22; to Samuel Goldwyn (as director), 1923-25; at RKO Radio Pictures (as actor) in 1931.

Started in the film industry as a bit player, assistant director and art director for D.W. Griffith. He had an uncanny sense for detail in decor, costume and nuances in human behavior. Often dissatisfied, he was prone to attempt perfection by extending films to absurd running times and by exceeding his allocated budgets. He was twice sacked: first by MGM production chief Irving Thalberg after disagreements over the cutting of Foolish Wives (1922) and for running behind schedule on Merry-Go-Round (1923); and the second time by producer/star Gloria Swanson halfway through filming Queen Kelly (1932). He was also replaced on another film, The Wedding March (1928), after his extravagance resulted in the cost ballooning to $1.1 million. The picture was reedited (badly) and subsequently flopped at the box office.

A $10,000 bonus was offered to him by MGM chief Louis B. Mayer once he finished The Merry Widow (1925) in less than six weeks. [May 1924]

In 1936, he left for France, leaving behind third wife, actress Valerie Germonprez, and sons Erich von Stroheim Jr.. and Josef von Stroheim. The rest of his career was spent writing two novels, touring in a production of "Arsenic and Old Lace", and appearing in small roles in Europe and the United States.

As the butler in Sunset Boulevard (1950), he is in the projection room when Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis are watching one of Norma's old films. The film is actually Queen Kelly (1932), which von Stroheim directed and which starred Gloria Swanson, who is playing Norma Desmond.

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6826 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Profiled in "From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse: Highbrow and Lowbrow Transgression in Cinema's First Century" by John Cline and Robert G. [2010]