Sam Spiegel

Born in Jarosław in Austrian Galicia, Spiegel led a picaresque early life — Palestine, a failed cotton venture, a stint translating for Universal in Europe, jail terms for bad debts, and a flight from the rising Nazis — before landing in Hollywood. For a time he produced under the alias "S.P. Eagle," a name that veiled his checkered past and amused the town.

His breakthrough was The African Queen, teaming Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, and director John Huston on a punishing location shoot in Africa. Then came the film that announced his genius for handling volatile talent: On the Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg, a raw waterfront drama that swept the 1954 Oscars including Best Picture.

Spiegel next formed one of the great producer-director partnerships, with David Lean. The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia were vast, arduous productions, shot in jungles and deserts, that Spiegel willed into being through sheer persuasion, financing brinkmanship, and a gift for coaxing writers, composers, and stars to give their utmost. Both won Best Picture; with Waterfront, they made him the rare producer with three.

He lived like a mogul-prince, throwing legendary parties aboard his yacht and at Cannes, dressing every deal in charm and pressure. Later films — The Chase, The Night of the Generals, Nicholas and Alexandra — never matched the peak. But the three masterpieces were enough. Spiegel died on holiday in the Caribbean on New Year's Eve, 1985, remembered as the most cultivated and formidable of the independent producers.