Otto Preminger

 Otto Preminger always claimed that, as a director, he would only shout at actors if they were late or if they did not know their lines. Employed solely as an actor in "Stalag 17" (1953), he told director Billy Wilder at the start of filming that if he ever forgot his lines, he would present Wilder with a jar of caviar. Wilder later told interviewers that he soon had dozens of such jars.

On the first day of shooting, Wilder made it clear that the script was to be delivered exactly as written with no deviation. He addressed this to the entire cast but with particular focus on William Holden, who wanted lines changed or added to make the character of Sefton more likeable, and Preminger. The latter had a tendency to ham it up and, as a seasoned director himself, was used to calling the shots.

To improve the chances for commercial success in West Germany (at that time already an important market for Hollywood) a Paramount executive suggested to Wilder that he should make the camp guards Poles rather than Germans. Wilder, whose mother and stepfather had died in the concentration camps, furiously refused and demanded an apology from the executive. When it didn't come, Wilder did not extend his contract at Paramount

For his appearance on the television series "Batman" (playing Mr. Freeze), Preminger was paid $2,500, the standard fee for actors who appeared on the series after asking for a role. The Screen Actors Guild got wind of this, and ordered that none of their members were to work for Preminger unless he paid the SAG dues for his appearance on "Batman", and various other monies he owed them dating back to his acting career. As a result, Preminger ended up $7,600 out of pocket from his turn as Mr. Freeze.

Preminger appeared on the famous British radio program "Desert Island Discs" in the spring of 1980, at the time of the British opening of his final film, "The Human Factor" (1979). This program asks well-known people what eight records they would bring with them to a desert island, together with one book and one luxury. His eight records consisted of music from his own films; his book selection was his own autobiography; and his luxury was a mirror. He got a great deal of publicity for this, but "The Human Factor" was a major box-office flop.

Happy Birthday, Otto Preminger!