Erich Von Stroheim

Diagnoses

Vocation

Austrian-American director and actor who emigrated to the U.S. somewhere between 1906 and 1909. The son of a Jewish hatter, he had served briefly in the Hungarian army and had worked in his dad's straw-hat factory. In America he began working in bit movie parts with his signature role, that of a Prussian officer, first seen in 1917, that of the rigid authoritarian with a sarcastic, monocled gaze. Limited in acting roles, he began to direct post-war and by the 20's, had a reputation for creative genius and profligate spendthrift, putting as much as a million dollars into a production, an extravagant sum when tickets sold for 10 cents. His noted films included "Foolish Wives," 1922, "The Merry Widow," 1925, and "Queen Kelly," 1928. He also had acting roles up to the '50s. Von Stroheim died of cancer at Maurepas on 12 May 1957. Link to Wikipedia biography