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Endpoint: Sam Spiegel



created on: 22/10/2015
by: EvelienVL (1524)
 
 

Person properties

General info :
Sam Spiegel (November 11, 1901, Jaroslaw, Galicia, Austria-Hungary – December 31, 1985, St. Martin, Channel Islands, UK) was an Austrian-born American independent film producer. He was the first to win the Academy Award for Best Picture three times, and the only one to be the sole producer on all three winning films.

Spiegel worked briefly in Hollywood in 1927 following a stint serving with Hashomer Hatzair in Palestine. He then went to Berlin to produce German and French adaptations of Universal films until 1933 when he fled Germany. As an independent producer, Spiegel helped produce a number of European films.

In 1938, he immigrated to Mexico and subsequently the United States.

Between 1935 and 1954, Spiegel billed himself as S. P. Eagle. After that he used his real name. His nickname was the "velvet octopus" after his propensity to entwine himself with women in the back of taxi cabs and manage Hollywood with a velvet touch according to Billy Wilder. He loved London and admired the British as is reflected with his greatest movies Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Lawrence of Arabia won 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, while The Bridge on the River Kwai won 7 including Best Picture. Spiegel was embraced by the British as one of theirs living in Central London yet remained feared by Hollywood for his talent, style, and womanizing.

Biographer Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni characterizes Spiegel as "a decidedly flawed protagonist, as well as the wit, sophistication, and Old World charm that make him a titanic figure the likes of which the movie industry will not see again."

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
ENA's S. P. Eagle

Movies

(18 items)

Item number : 5169

Submitted by : EvelienVL (1524)
on : 22/10/2015