Sam Spiegel

Samuel P. Spiegel was an American independent film producer born in the Galician area of Austria-Hungary. Financially responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of the 20th century, Spiegel produced films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times, a Hollywood first for a sole independent producer.

Spiegel was born on November 11, 1901 to a German-speaking Jewish family in Jarosław, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (until 1772 in Polish Crown, now in Poland). His parents were Regina and Simon Spiegel, a tobacco wholesaler. He received his education at the University of Vienna. He had an older brother, Shalom Spiegel (1899-c. 1984), who was a professor of medieval Hebrew poetry.

Spiegel worked briefly in Hollywood in 1927 following a stint serving with Hashomer Hatzair in Palestine. He then went to Berlin to produce German and French adaptations of Universal films. In 1933 he fled Germany following the election of the Nazi party and increased antisemitism. As an independent producer, Spiegel helped produce a number of European films.

In 1938, he emigrated to Mexico and subsequently the United States. Between 1935 and 1954, Spiegel billed himself as S. P. Eagle; after that he used his real name. His nickname was the "velvet octopus" after his propensity to entwine himself with women in the back of taxis and manage Hollywood with a velvet touch according to Billy Wilder. He loved London and admired the British, as is reflected in his films The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962), both of which won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. Starting with the 1951 film The African Queen, he produced films through his British-based production company Horizon Pictures.

In a review in Variety of Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni's biography of Spiegel, Wendy Smith notes: "It's all here: the sleazy financial maneuvers and creepy taste for underage girls that make Spiegel a decidedly flawed protagonist, as well as the wit, sophistication, and Old World charm that make him a titanic figure the likes of which the movie industry will not see again"

Spiegel won the Academy Award for Best Picture for Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront as well as for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962), both directed by Briton David Lean. In 1963, he was awarded the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award at that year's Academy Awards for his many contributions to cinema.

Spiegel died on December 31, 1985.