Born Walter Feuchtwanger in San Francisco, CA. Produced a Broadway play before serving as an officer with Army Intelligence in WW I and a staffer with President Wilson's negotiating team at the Paris Peace Conference. Wanger went on to become a producer with Paramount, finally attaining the position of production chief. He served in similar posts with Columbia and MGM before establishing himself as an independent producer, shepherding such excellent films as the Garbo vehicle, QUEEN CHRISTINA (1933), John Ford's classic western, STAGECOACH (1939), Hitchcock's FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940), Fritz Lang's SCARLET STREET (1945) and the sci-fi melodrama, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956). Wanger was married to silent screen beauty Justine Johnstone from 1919 until they divorced in 1938. In 1940, he married his second wife, actress Joan Bennett, a union not without scandal. In 1951, a jealous Wanger shot Bennett's agent, Jennings Lang, in the groin when he discovered they were having an affair; Wanger was convicted and served a short jail sentence. He and Bennett were reconciled in 1953 and he widowed her in 1968. Wanger served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1939 to October 1941 and from December 1941 to 1945. In 1949 he turned down the Special Academy Award given to him for the 1948 film JOAN OF ARC. 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. Visit the Internet Movie Database for a full listing of Wanger's producing credits.  Nominated for Best Picture 1939: STAGECOACH - Producer at Wanger  Nominated for Best Picture 1940: FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT - Producer at Wanger  Special Award 1945: For his six years service as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Winner presented a Special Plaque.  Special Award 1948: JOAN OF ARC - Producer For distinguished service to the industry in adding to its moral stature in the world community by his production of the picture JOAN OF ARC. Winner presented a Statuette.  Nominated for Special Effects 1949: TULSA - [John P. Fulton is credited in the film, but Wanger (as producer) and Stuart Heisler (as director) have received credit for the nomination.]  Nominated for Best Picture 1963: CLEOPATRA - Producer at Wanger 3 nominations, 2 Special Awards