- Born
- Died
- Birth nameFriedrich Wilhelm Plumpe
- Height6′ 4″ (1.93 m)
- F.W. Murnau was a German film director. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at the age of 12, and became a friend of director Max Reinhardt. During World War I he served as a company commander at the eastern front and was in the German air force, surviving several crashes without any severe injuries.
One of Murnau's acclaimed works is the 1922 film Nosferatu, an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Although not a commercial success due to copyright issues with Stoker's novel, the film is considered a masterpiece of Expressionist film.
He later emigrated to Hollywood in 1926, where he joined the Fox Studio and made three films: Sunrise (1927), 4 Devils (1928) and City Girl (1930). The first of these three is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made.
In 1931 Murnau travelled to Bora Bora to make the film Tabu (1931) with documentary film pioneer Robert J. Flaherty, who left after artistic disputes with Murnau, who had to finish the movie on his own. A week prior to the opening of the film Tabu, Murnau died in a Santa Barbara hospital from injuries he had received in an automobile accident that occurred along the Pacific Coast Highway near Rincon Beach, southeast of Santa Barbara. Only 11 people attended his funeral. Among them were Robert J. Flaherty, Emil Jannings, Greta Garbo and Fritz Lang, who delivered the eulogy.
Of the 21 films Murnau directed, eight are considered to be completely lost.
In July 2015 Murnau's grave was broken into, the remains disturbed and the skull removed by persons unknown. Wax residue was reportedly found at the site, leading some to speculate that candles had been lit, perhaps with an occult or ceremonial significance. As this disturbance was not an isolated incident, the cemetery managers are considering sealing the grave.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Pedro Borges
- ParentsHeinrich Plumpe
- RelativesRobert Plumpe(Sibling)Bernhard Plumpe(Sibling)Ida Plumpe(Sibling)Anna Plumpe(Sibling)
- Innovative use of light and dark shadowing to create a certain mood
- Visual storytelling without intertitles.
- Towering height
- Directed 17 films in Germany and four in America.
- Did not live to see the premiere of his last film; he died in an automobile accident in Santa Barbara, CA, on March 11, 1931. The car was driven by Murnau's Filipino valet Garcia Stevenson. Murnau was entombed in Berlin. Robert J. Flaherty, Emil Jannings and Greta Garbo attended the funeral, and Fritz Lang delivered the funeral speech.
- His Sunrise (1927)--considered one of the masterpieces of American cinema--was voted the fifth greatest film of all time in "Sight & Sound"'s 2012 critics poll. It's the highest-ranked silent film on the list.
- Because his parents were against his plans for a career in the theater--and because they also did not accept his homosexuality--he changed his name from Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe to Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau.
- Of the 21 films he directed, eight have been completely lost. One reel of his feature Marizza (1922) survives. The loss of his American film 4 Devils (1928) is considered a major loss to the art of silent cinema.
- Don't act - think!
- I think films of the future will use more and more of these "camera angles" or, as I prefer to call them, these "dramatic angles". They help photograph thought.[1928]
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