William Wyler: An Actor’s Director
When you think of directors from the Golden Age of Hollywood, some names that might come to mind include Billy Wilder, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Cukor. But another person who would fit that bill just as well would be William Wyler. Like each of the aforementioned directors, William Wyler directed many of Hollywood’s greatest films, but what makes him unique is that he directed 31 different actors in roles that earned each an Academy Award Nomination which is more than any other director throughout the entire history of Hollywood. 13 of these actors ultimately won the Oscar for their performances. In this blog I’d like to tell you about the actors who were accoladed as a result of his guidance.
- Walter Brennan earned the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Swan Bostrom in the film Come and Get It (1936), making Brennan the first recipient of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Howard Hawks is credited as the primary director of the film and he said that William Wyler directed the last ten minutes of the movie. It is however, believed today that Wyler actually directed the last 30 minutes of the movie. (Richard Rosson is also credited as the director of the “logging sequences.”) Brennan later appeared under Wyler’s direction again in The Westerner (1940) which earned him his third Oscar. (Each of Brennan’s Oscars were in the supporting category).
- Bette Davis and Fay Bainter both won Oscars under Wyler’s direction for their leading and supporting performances in the film Jezebel (1938). Not only did she claim this movie was one of the most rewarding experiences of her career, Bette Davis had an affair with William Wyler while making this film and became pregnant with his child as a result. He was married and refused to leave his wife, and sadly, Davis got an abortion. The same year as this film, Bainter was also nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Actress for her performance in the film White Banners, and she became the first actress ever to receive two nominations for two movies within the same year.
- Greer Garson won the Best Actress award for her performance as Mrs. Miniver in the film of the same name in 1942 while Teresa Wright won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar as Carol Beldon. After making this film, Garson married her co-star, Richard Ney, despite the fact that Ney played her son in the film. This film also earned Wyler his first Best Director Oscar. Wright reunited with Wyler four years later on The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).
- Fredric March and Harold Russell won the Best Actor and and Best Supporting Actor Oscars for their performances in “Best Years of Our Lives.” Fredric March had a career in banking before he became an actor, just like his character Al Stephenson in the movie. At one point, Wyler became angry with producer Samuel Goldwyn when he sent Russell for acting lessons because he preferred Russell’s untrained acting skills. Despite that, in addition to winning a total of seven Oscars, (including another Best Director for Wyler), the film received an Honorary Oscar to Harold Russell for “bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans" through his appearance in the film.
- Olivia de Havilland received the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in The Heiress (1949). De Havilland originally saw “Heiress,” on Broadway and she approached Wyler about directing the film adaptation. Wyler agreed and purchased the film rights from playwrights Ruth and Augustus Goetz for $250,000 and paid them an additional $10,000 a week to write the script.
- Audrey Hepburn got the Best Actress Oscar for her feature film debut in Roman Holiday (1953). In the scene in the film where Princess Ann says her tearful goodbye to Joe, Audrey Hepburn struggled to produce tears. Wyler finally began scolding her for the number of messed up takes, and thus her floodgates finally opened and they got what they needed in the scene. Despite that experience, Hepburn later reunited with Wyler in The Children’s Hour (1961).
- Burl Ives was awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1958 for his performance as Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country. It reunited Wyler with Gregory Peck, and they became friends on “Roman Holiday,” but they fought throughout production primarily due to script dissatisfaction. Wyler was quoted as having said “I wouldn’t direct Peck again for a million dollars and you can quote me on that.” They reconciled three years after this movie, but never made another movie together. Besides directing a cast that consisted of Peck, Ives, Chuck Connors, and Jean Simmons, this was William Wyler’s first pairing with Charlton Heston.
- Charlton Heston and Hugh Griffith received the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor trophies for their performances in Ben-Hur (1959). Wyler joked that “It took a Jew to make a good film about Jesus,” as he won his third Best Director Oscar. Charlton Heston’s performance as Judah Ben-Hur remains the longest performance ever to win a Best Actor Oscar, at a total of 2 hours, 1 minute, and 23 seconds. After making the film, Hugh Griffith also made Tom Jones (1963) and the movie-musical Oliver! (1968) which just like “Ben-Hur,” won the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars.
- Barbra Streisand won the Best Actress Oscar for her feature film debut in Funny Girl (1968). William Wyler was asked by a friend once whether Streisand was difficult to work with. He replied “No, not too hard, considering it was the first film she ever directed.” Streisand is quoted as having said if any of her films could be in a time vault, she would want to be remembered for this one. Producer Ray Stark, ironically in real-life, was the son-in-law of Fanny Brice whom Streisand played in the movie. It was Stark’s idea that Streisand reprise the role which she had originated on Broadway.
William Wyler’s legacy in movies is special because in addition to telling so many wonderful stories throughout his career, he helped actors achieved greatness as well. He helped people to pretend to be someone other than themselves, but he always made it look as though they weren’t pretending. And his ability to do that is hard to match.
