Spiegel, Samuel P.
SPIEGEL, SAMUEL P.
SPIEGEL, SAMUEL P. (1901–1985), U.S. motion picture producer. Born in Jaroslau, Austria, Spiegel came to the United States in 1939. Ultimately becoming one of the top producers of his time, Spiegel's films include Tales of Manhattan (1942), The Stranger (1945), We Were Strangers (1949), The African Queen (1951), On the Waterfront (Academy Award for Best Picture, 1954), The Bridge on the River Kwai (Academy Award for Best Picture, 1957), Suddenly Last Summer (1950), Lawrence of Arabia (Academy Award for Best Picture, 1962), The Night of the Generals (1966), The Happening (1967), Nicholas and Alexandra (Oscar nomination for Best Picture, 1971), The Last Tycoon (1976), and Betrayal (1983). Spiegel, who was also known for a time as S.P. Eagle, was the only person to win the Best Picture Oscar three times as a sole producer within eight years. He was the brother of Shalom *Spiegel.
In 1964 he received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given to a creative producer who has been responsible for a consistently high quality of motion picture production.
add. bibliography:
A. Sinclair, Spiegel: The Man behind the Pictures (1987); A. Sinclair, S.P. Eagle: A Biography of Sam Spiegel (1988); N. Fraser-Cavassoni, Sam Spiegel: The Incredible Life and Times (2003).
[Jonathan Licht /
Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)]