Erich von Stroheim

Erich von Stroheim was born Erich Oswald Stroheim in 1885, in Vienna, Austria, to Johanna (Bondy), from Prague, and Benno Stroheim, a hatter from Gleiwitz, Germany (now Gliwice, Poland). His family was Jewish.After spending some time working in his father's hat factory, he
emigrated to America around 1909. Working in various jobs he arrived in
Hollywood in 1914 and got work in D.W. Griffiths' company as a bit
player. America's entry into WW1 enabled him to play sadistic monocled
German officers but these roles dried up when the war ended. He turned
to writing and directing but his passion for unnecessary detail such as
Austrian guards wearing correct and expensively acquired regulation
underwear which was never seen in 'Foolish Wives' caused the budget to
reach a reported $1 million. Although the film became a hit the final
edit was given to others resulting in a third of his footage being cut.
Irving Thalberg fired him from 'Merry Go Round' which was completed by
Rupert Julien. He then started on 'Greed', which when completed was
unreleasable being 42 reels with a running time of 7 hours. It was
eventually cut down to 10 reels which still had a striking effect on
audiences. 'The Wedding March' was so long that even in it's unfinished
state it was released as two separate films in Europe. Gloria Swanson
fired him from her production of 'Queen Kelly' when with no sign of the
film nearing completion the costs had risen to twice the budget partly
due to him re-shooting scenes that had already been passed by the Hays
office. She then had to spend a further $200,000 putting the footage
into releasable state. It was the end for him as a director, but he made
a reasonable success as an actor in the talkies.