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Sam Spiegel

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Producer

The Resume

    (November 11, 1901-December 31, 1985)
    Born in Jaroslaw, Poland
    Produced the films 'Unsichtbare Gegner' (1933), 'Tales of Manhattan' (1942), 'The Stranger' (1946), 'The African Queen' (1951), 'On the Waterfront' (1954), 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' (1957), 'Suddenly, Last Summer' (1959), 'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962), 'The Chase' (1966), 'The Happening' (1967), 'Nicholas and Alexandra' (1971), 'The Last Tycoon' (1976) and 'Betrayal' (1983)
    Recipient of the Thalberg Award (1964)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was jailed in Britain and the US and expelled from France for fraud and passing bad checks.
    When he first worked in Hollywood, he hid his Eastern European background by adopting the uber-patriotic name S.P. Eagle.
    He embodied the stereotype of the tough, cigar-chomping, hard-driving producer.
    Billy Wilder called him 'a modern Robin Hood who steals from the rich and steals from the poor.'
    He liked hiring blacklisted writers -- not to make a political statement, but because they were desperate for work and could be hired cheaply.
    He was a perfectionist and micromanager who clashed repeatedly with directors, including David Lean and Arthur Penn.
    He told Harold Pinter, 'The secret of happiness is whores.'
    He also liberally used the casting couch to fill out female roles in his films.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He fled Europe when Hitler came to power.
    He spoke seven languages fluently: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew and Polish.
    He got his start in Hollywood as a story translator.
    He had impeccable manners.
    He possessed a roguish charm that kept people liking him even when he was being a bastard.
    He produced three winners of the Best Picture Oscar in an eight-year period (1955-63), a feat no other producer has matched.
    Mike Nichols said he came 'as close to an artist as a producer could get.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying