Biography for
Walter Wanger More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

11 July 1894, San Francisco, California, USA

Date of Death

18 November 1968, New York City, New York, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Walter Feuchtwanger

Spouse

Joan Bennett	(13 January 1940 - 20 September 1965) (divorced) 2 children
Justine Johnstone	(September 1919 - 15 April 1938) (divorced)

Trivia

Holds a special place in the history of motion picture production - he was the first and last studio executive to suggest to Groucho Marx that he lose the greasepaint moustache as it was an "obvious fake". (Source: Joseph Adamson III in his book "Groucho, Harpo, Chico and sometimes Zeppo" (1973)

In 1951 Wanger was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of talent agent Jennings Lang. Lang was the agent of Joan Bennett, then Wanger's wife, and Wanger discovered the two of them were having an affair. He caught them in the act, and wound up shooting Lang in the groin. Wanger served several years in San Quentin Prison. His experiences there resulted in his producing the seminal prison film classic Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954).

The surname Wanger, as pronounced, rhymes with 'stranger'

In 1949 he turned down the Special Academy Award given to him for Joan of Arc (1948). Wanger was furious at the way the film had been marketed and blamed billionaire Howard Hughes - who at the time was head of RKO, the studio that distributed the film - for its commercial failure. He was also reportedly angry that the film's several Oscar nominations did not include one for Best Picture.

Father of Stephanie Guest.

Hosted the Academy Awards in 1941

President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1939 to October 1941 and from December 1941 to 1945

Grandfather of producer Vanessa Wanger, fiancée of independent producer Ted Hope.

During World War I he was a fighter pilot in the Italian Air Force, and saw combat in France.

Personal Quotes

Nothing is as cheap as a hit, no matter how much it costs.

[on Hollywood gossip columnists] This is the only industry that finances its own blackmail.