Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder (1906–2002) was an Austrian-born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist whose career spanned more than five decades. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of the Hollywood Golden Age of cinema. With The Apartment, Wilder became the first person to win Academy Awards as producer, director, and screenwriter for the same film.

Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond began collaborating in 1957. Beginning with Love in the Afternoon, their partnership spanned 25 years and a dozen critically acclaimed films, including Merry Andrew; Some Like It Hot (an Oscar nomination); The Apartment; One, Two, Three; Irma La Douce; Kiss Me, Stupid; The Fortune Cookie (a second nomination); The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes; Avanti!; Fedora and Buddy Buddy.