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Anatole Litvak

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Anatole Litvak (Анатоль Литвак) (May 10, 1902 – December 15, 1974) was a Ukrainian-born international filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a variety of countries and languages.

Early years

He was born Mikhail Anatol Litwak into a Jewish family in the city of Kiev in what was then part of the Russian Empire. As a teenager, he worked at a theater in St. Petersburg and took acting lessons at the State drama school. In the 1920s, he would go to Germany where he made films but as a Jew had to flee in the 1930s as a result of the Nazi regime. While living in England he made several successful films there and in France that brought a contract offer from a Hollywood studio.

Private life

In 1937, Litvak became the third husband of American actress Miriam Hopkins. Their short-lived marriage ended in divorce in 1939. He married a second time to costume designer Sophie Steur who worked on some of his films. They remained married until his death.

Career

Litvak served with the United States Army during World War II and joined with fellow director Frank Capra to make the Why We Fight film series. Because of Litvak's ability to speak Russian, German, and French, he played a key role as the head of the army's photography division responsible for documenting the U.S. D-Day landing on Normandy.

At the end of the war, he returned to filmmaking and remained active in Hollywood until the mid-1950s when he began filming in Europe. Most notable was Anastasia (1956) filmed in Paris and starring Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes. The film was a fictitious imagining of the mystery surrounding the Grand Duchess Anastasia. The movie enjoyed huge commercial success.

Awards and nominations

In 1940, his film All This and Heaven Too was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 1948 Litvak was nominated for an Academy Award for Directing for his film The Snake Pit. This film and his 1951 production of Decision Before Dawn were both nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. In 1961, at the Cannes Film Festival his Goodbye Again was nominated for the Palme d'Or.

Anatole Litvak died in 1974 in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6633 Hollywood Blvd.

Filmography

External links



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