Samuel P. Spiegel (November 11, 1901December 31, 1985) was an American independent film producer. 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 The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...

three times, a Hollywood first for a sole independent producer.

Early life

Spiegel was born to a German-speaking Jewish family in

Jarosław Jarosław (; , ; ; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, situated on the San (river), San River. The town had 35,475 inhabitants in 2023. It is the capital of Jarosław County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. History Jarosław is located in the ...

, Galicia,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(later modern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). His parents were Regina and Simon Spiegel, a tobacco wholesaler. He received his education at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. He had an older brother, Shalom Spiegel (1899-c. 1984), who was a professor of medieval Hebrew poetry.

Career

Spiegel worked briefly in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

in 1927 following a stint serving with

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

. He then went to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to produce

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and French adaptations of Universal films. In 1933 he fled

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

following the election of the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

party and increased

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. As an independent producer, Spiegel helped produce a number of European films. In 1938, he emigrated to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

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 Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...

. 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."

Awards

Spiegel won the

for

Elia Kazan Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...

's ''

On the Waterfront ''On the Waterfront'' is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning and Eva Marie Saint in her film de ...

'' as well as for ''

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel ''The Bridge over the River Kwai'', written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional but u ...

'' (1957) and '' Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), both directed by Briton

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema. He directed the large-scale epi ...

. In 1963, he was awarded the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award at that year's

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

for his many contributions to cinema.

Sexual misconduct allegations

American actress

Theresa Russell Theresa Lynn Russell ( Paup; born March 20, 1957) is an American actress whose career spans over four decades. Her Theresa Russell filmography, filmography includes over 50 feature films, ranging from mainstream to independent film, independent a ...

alleged that she was sexually propositioned by Spiegel during her first casting session for his 1976 film '' The Last Tycoon''. In another interview, Russell recalled: "I was 16 years old and still living at home, and he took me to the Bistro and tried to stick his tongue down my throat." After she refused to sign a contract with Spiegel, Russell "was completely left out of the publicity for ''The Last Tycoon'', and Spiegel threatened that he would prevent Russell from working again in Hollywood. He also sexually harassed actress

Toni Kalem Toni Z. Kalem (born August 29, 1956) is an American actress. Kalem is best known for her portrayal of Angie Bonpensiero on the HBO series ''The Sopranos''. Kalem grew up in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey. She appeared in such f ...

when she worked as his secretary in 1975.

Personal life

Spiegel was married three times: to Rachel Agronovich from 1922 to 1926, with whom he had one daughter; to the actress Lynn Baggett, from 1948 to 1953, and to Betty Benson (1930-2013), from 1957 until his death. He also had a son by Ann Pennington. Spiegel maintained a connection with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

throughout his life, particularly with such personalities as

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

, Jerusalem Foundation president Ruth Cheshin (wife of

Mishael Cheshin Mishael Cheshin (‎; 16 February 1936 – 19 September 2015) was an Israeli Justice who served in the Supreme Court of Israel from 1992 to 2006. Biography Mishael Cheshin was born in Beirut, Greater Lebanon. He was the son of and Leah (née ...

), and his close friend, then

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Mayor

Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek (; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978 Jerusalem ...

. Spiegel also contributed to various

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

causes. He spoke eight languages fluently: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Hebrew and Yiddish.

Legacy

Spiegel's heirs and the administrators of his estate, son Adam Spiegel, daughter Alisa Freedman, niece Judge Raya Dreben, and Adv. David Bottoms, decided to transfer Spiegel's impressive art collection to the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

in Jerusalem. Since 1996, they have made an annual contribution, through the

Jerusalem Foundation The Jerusalem Foundation (, ''HaKeren LiYerushalayim''; ) is a Foundation (non-profit), nonprofit foundation that promotes the development of the city of Jerusalem, by raising funds for social, cultural and beautification projects. Established in ...

, to the film school in Jerusalem bearing his name since that time – the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, Jerusalem. This annual contribution is the largest in the history of Israeli cinema. In 2005, the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, the Jerusalem Municipality complied with a request from the school's founder-director Renen Schorr to mark the occasion by declaring the lane in the Talpiot industrial section where the school is located "The Sam Spiegel Alley." The street sign's inscription: "Sam Spiegel – Jewish-American Film Producer and Oscar-winner. Pioneer. Lover of Zion."

Filmography as producer

# '' Invisible Opponent'' (1933) # '' The Oil Sharks'' (1933) # ''

Mariage à responsabilité limitée Mariage may refer to: * Mariage (card game), a European card game with bonuses for "marrying" king and queen of the same suit * ''Mariage'', a 1974 film by Claude Lelouch * ''Mariage'', a 2009 album by Kadril See also * Marriage * Marriage (disa ...

'' (1933) # '' The Invader'' (1935) (co-producer) # '' Derrière la façade'' (1939) # '' Tales of Manhattan'' (1942) (as S. P. Eagle) # '' The Stranger'' (1946) (as S. P. Eagle) # '' We Were Strangers'' (1949) (as S. P. Eagle) # '' When I Grow Up'' (1951) (as S. P. Eagle) # '' The Prowler'' (1951) (as S. P. Eagle) # '' The African Queen'' (1951) (as S. P. Eagle) # '' Melba'' (1953) # ''

'' (1954) # '' The Strange One'' (1957) # ''

'' (1957) # ''

Suddenly, Last Summer ''Suddenly Last Summer'' is a one-act play by Tennessee Williams, written in New York in 1957. It opened off Broadway on January 7, 1958, as part of a double bill with another of Williams' one-acts, '' Something Unspoken'' (written in London in ...

'' (1959) # '' Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962) # '' The Chase'' (1966) # '' The Night of the Generals'' (1967) # '' The Happening'' (1967) # '' Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971) # '' The Last Tycoon'' (1976) # ''

Betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Of ...

'' (1983)

References

External links

* *
The Making of ''Lawrence of Arabia''
Digitised

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Journal, Winter 1962-3
Sam Spiegel Film & Television School
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spiegel, Sam 1901 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople People from Jarosław Jews from Austria-Hungary People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) American entertainment industry businesspeople American film producers American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of German-Jewish descent Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award BAFTA fellows Golden Globe Award–winning producers Sexual assaults in the United States Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States University of Vienna alumni Jewish American film people American Zionists