Billy Wilder was an Austrian-born filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hollywood cinema. He received seven Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or and two Golden Globe Awards.
Wilder, c. 1942
Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas in Ninotchka
Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity
Gloria Swanson with Wilder on the set of Sunset Boulevard
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film. In 1964, the Palme d'Or was replaced again by the Grand Prix, before being reintroduced in 1975.
Palme d'Or awarded to Apocalypse Now at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival