Sam Spiegel

Sam Spiegel (November 11, 1901 – December 31, 1985) was an Austrian-born American independent film producer. He was the first to win the Academy Award for Best Picture three times, and the only one to be the sole producer on all three winning films.

Early life

Samuel P. Spiegel was born to a Jewish family in Jarosław, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now in Poland). His parents were Regina and Simon Spiegel (a tobacco wholesaler). He received his education at the University of Vienna. His brother was Shalom Spiegel, a professor of medieval Hebrew poetry.

Career

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 until 1933 when he fled Germany. As an independent producer, Spiegel helped produce a number of European films.

In 1938, he immigrated 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 taxi cabs and manage Hollywood with a velvet touch according to Billy Wilder. He loved London and admired the British as is reflected with his greatest movies Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Lawrence of Arabia won 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, while The Bridge on the River Kwai won 7 including Best Picture. Spiegel was embraced by the British as one of theirs living in Central London yet remained feared by Hollywood for his talent, style, and womanizing.

Sam Spiegel (disambiguation)

Sam Spiegel may refer to:

  • Sam Spiegel (1901–1985), film producer
  • Sam Spiegel (actor), French actor
  • Sam Spiegel (musician), American musician and DJ

  • Sam Spiegel (actor)

    Sam Spiegel (also known as "Sam Hervé Spiegel") is a French actor. He has appeared in both French and English language films, television series and plays. Also a voice-over artist and a writer of novels and children's books, Spiegel lives currently in England.

    Biography

    Spiegel was born in Metz, Moselle, France in the 1960s. He studied fine art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Metz before moving to London, UK. He studied acting in London with Philippe Gaulier, Tony Greco (Actors Studio) in New York, and comedy with Michel Galabru in Paris.

    Career

    Spiegel has worked on many occasions for the BBC and portrayed various characters such as pimps, gangsters, cops, scientists in series like Roger Roger II, Schubert (as Schubert), and more recently Henri in Bonekickers. Spiegel has acted in a variety of series for Channel 4 (The Queen's Sister) and ITV (Wing and a Prayer, Hale and Pace) or for France 2 (Le Grand Charles). He also worked for the cinema (Jean-Pierre Mocky) and on stage in various plays.

    Sam Spiegel (musician)

    Sam Spiegel is an American producer/DJ/composer from New York who grew up in Manhattan and Westchester County.

    As a child, Sam studied classical voice, cello, and flute. By his teens, he enjoyed hip hop music.

    In addition to creating his own material, Spiegel has worked with musicians such as Ben Lee, Maroon 5, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. He has also scored commercials for companies including Converse, Levi's, Reebok, ESPN, T Mobile, Jose Cuervo, and Saturn, and his production company scored the video game Skate 2. Though he attempts to create music free of record label restraints, Spiegel also licenses his songs whenever possible so as to maximize exposure for his work.

    Spiegel is brother of film director Spike Jonze. They collaborated on the Adidas TV commercial Hello Tomorrow, for which Sam Spiegel created the score sung by Jonze's then-girlfriend Karen O. The titular song briefly reached #1 on the iTunes singles chart. Spiegel also wrote the score for Jonze's 2010 short film I'm Here.

    Podcasts:

    Famous quotes by Sam Spiegel:

    "Family Dollar wasn't doing very well. We re-tenanted that with two more national stores that will both be open by the end of September. We divided that space in half and It's Fashion! and Shoe Show are going in there."
    "We've really made a tremendous turnaround with that property. We purchased the center in April of 2004. It was struggling. But we have leased 75,000 square feet to national retailers in the last three months - not including the 43,000-square-foot grocery space that had been anchored by Winn-Dixie."
    PLAYLIST TIME:

    Latest News for: sam spiegel

    Renen Schorr, founder of Israel’s Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, dies aged 72

    Screen Daily 26 Feb 2025
    Renen Schorr Heller, founder of Israel’s Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, has died at the age of 72 ... It was renamed the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in 1996, in honour of US independent producer Spiegel.
    • 1
    ×