Sam Spiegel

Sam Spiegel (1904-85), the Austrian-born Hollywood film producer, won Oscar after Oscar, particularly through his famous association with British director David Lean on “The Bridge over the River Kwai” and “Lawrence of Arabia”. There was also “The African Queen” with Bogart and Hepburn, “On the Waterfront” with Brando and “The Last Tycoon” with De Niro. From the University of Vienna, Spiegel went to America selling Palestinian cotton. While there, he lectured on drama and was briefly hired by MGM to advise on foreign-language versions. He was fired and went to Universal. In 1929, they sent him to Berlin to work on German productions for them, before reappearing in America calling himself S.P. Eagle. This biography aims to do justice to the man who went to America selling cotton and ended up filming an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. In fact Spiegel’s films won more Oscars than there were films.