Born April 29 1907 in Austria-Hungary. Died March 14 1997 in London England. Initially grew up wanting to be a violinist, but while at the University of Vienna decided to study law. While doing so, he became increasingly interested in American film and decided that was what he wanted to do. He became involved in European filmaking for a short time before going to America to study film. He directed the film debuts of Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, and Meryl Streep.