Few film directors have demonstrated the depth, range, longevity, and sensitivity that William Wyler gave to the American screen. Yet like many of the early Hollywood destiny shapers, Wyler possessed neither a background in the arts nor even an all-American upbringing. Born in Alsace-Lorraine of German-Swiss-Jewish parentage, he was schooled in Switzerland and prepared for a career as a haberdasher in Paris. During a visit to his parents' home in 1920 he met Carl Laemmle, his mother's cousin from America and president of Universal Studios. Laemmle, a former clothing merchant himself, had no problem coaxing young Willie into working for him in America. Wyler spent the next year in the publicity department of Universal's New York offices. He was then transferred to Hollywood and accepted several menial studio jobs until 1925, when he was offered the chance to cut his directorial teeth on low-budget westerns. By 1928 he had completed two dozen two-reelers, seven feature-length westerns and one comedy. He was also granted his United States citizenship that year. Over the next decade Wyler built a reputation as a director of popular and respectable film adaptations of classic literary works and contemporary theater. In 1936 he signed with Samuel Goldwyn Productions and established a working relationship with playwright Lillian Hellman. They reworked her controversial Broadway drama, The Children's Hour, into a sensitive (if sanitized) film titled THESE THREE (1936). At this time Wyler also teamed with cameraman Gregg Toland, who would develop the deep focus technique that would enhance such Wyler films as THE LITTLE FOXES (1941), another Hellman collaboration. DODSWORTH (1936), DEAD END (1937) and JEZEBEL (1938) followed, all critical and commercial successes. Wyler's amazing string of hits continued with WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939), THE LETTER (1940) and THE LITTLE FOXES. Oscar-nominated for all three films, Wyler won his first Academy Award for MRS. MINIVER (1942), an uplifting tale of a British family's fortitude in the face of the hardships of WW II. Ironically, later that year Wyler was commissioned as a major in the US Army Air Force. While stationed in England he produced documentaries and undertook several dangerous missions to gather air combat footage. Over Italy he suffered injuries that left him partially deaf. Following the war he ended his long association with Goldwyn on an exceptionally high note with THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946), a story of three returning American war veterans which won Wyler his second Oscar and proved to be the top box-office draw of the decade. In 1947 he rallied to counteract the stinging accusations of the Congressional HUAC investigations of Hollywood by helping to form, along with John Huston and Philip Dunne, the Committee for the First Amendment. In 1948, he and fellow directors Frank Capra, George Stevens and Samuel Briskin formed their own production company, Liberty Films, which was later taken over by Paramount. THE HEIRESS (1949) found Wyler demonstrating his knack for bringing rich, visual staging to the literary classics. During the 1950s Wyler's work embraced several genres: urban melodrama (DETECTIVE STORY, 1951), romantic comedy (ROMAN HOLIDAY, 1953), and western (THE BIG COUNTRY, 1958). He capped the decade with BEN-HUR (1959), the Biblical spectacle that garnered a record 11 Academy Awards including best picture and best director -- Wyler's third Oscar. The next ten years presented a variety of cinematic challenges for Wyler, including his first musical, FUNNY GIRL (1968). That Barbra Streisand won an Oscar in this, her debut film, owed something to the Wyler touch which had guided so many other performers to award-winning performances. His last film, THE LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES (1970), proved a critical and box-office disappointment and Wyler retired shortly thereafter. In 1976 he became the third recipient of the prestigious Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Wyler can be justifiably called the "Actor's Director;" actors in his films received a record 35 Oscar acting nominations; they won another record 14 Awards. Despite his tyrannical ways on the set, Wyler's actors could be very grateful when the Oscar nominations were announced.  Nominated for Directing 1936: DODSWORTH  Nominated for Directing 1939: WUTHERING HEIGHTS  Nominated for Directing 1940: THE LETTER  Nominated for Directing 1941: THE LITTLE FOXES  Directing 1942: MRS. MINIVER  Directing 1946: THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES  Nominated for Best Picture 1949: THE HEIRESS - Producer at Paramount  Nominated for Directing 1949: THE HEIRESS  Nominated for Directing 1951: DETECTIVE STORY  Nominated for Best Picture 1953: ROMAN HOLIDAY - Producer at Paramount  Nominated for Directing 1953: ROMAN HOLIDAY  Nominated for Best Picture 1956: FRIENDLY PERSUASION - Producer at Allied Artists  Nominated for Directing 1956: FRIENDLY PERSUASION  Directing 1959: BEN-HUR  Nominated for Directing 1965: THE COLLECTOR  Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award 1965 15 nominations, 3 Awards, 1 Honorary Award