German film producer, director, and screenwriter (1949? 2011)
Bernd Eichinger
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Eichinger in 1997
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Born
| (
1949-04-11
)
11 April 1949
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Died
| 24 January 2011
(2011-01-24)
(aged 61)
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Occupation(s)
| Film producer, director, screenwriter
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Years active
| 1972?2010
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Spouse
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Partner(s)
| Jane Seitz
(1980s)
Katja Flint
(1990s)
Corinna Harfouch
(1999?2004)
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Children
| Nina Eichinger
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Bernd Eichinger
(
German:
[b??nt
?a?.?c?ŋ.?]
ⓘ
; 11 April 1949 – 24 January 2011) was a German film producer, director, and screenwriter.
Life and career
[
edit
]
Eichinger was born in
Neuburg an der Donau
. He attended the
University of Television and Film Munich
in the 1970s and bought a stake in the fledgling
studio company
Neue Constantin Film
in 1979, becoming its executive director. Under his leadership,
Constantin Film
evolved into one of the most successful German film businesses. As of 2005, he was chairman of the supervisory board and still owned a substantial stake in the company. Eichinger also produced some movies independently (for example,
Downfall
).
[1]
One of Eichinger's last films was about the
left-wing
terrorist group
Red Army Faction
(RAF) and based on the book
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
("
The
Baader
-
Meinhof
Complex
") by
Stefan Aust
.
[2]
The range of genres of films, for television and the big screen, was unusually varied. He produced a 3D zombie movie,
Resident Evil: Afterlife
; to
Atomised
, a film adaptation of novel by French star writer and social critic
Michel Houellebecq
. He was an incredibly prolific film maker, with almost 100 films to his credit.
[3]
Eichinger was known as tenacious. It took him 20 years to convince
Patrick Suskind
, the German author of
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
, to trust him with the rights to make the international bestseller into a film. In 2006, the film was released, grossing $135 million worldwide.
[3]
In the 1980s, Eichinger obtained the film rights to the
Fantastic Four
and
Silver Surfer
, decades before making movies based on Marvel comics was trending.
[3]
In 1991, he was a co-founder of Summit, the Los Angeles-based production and film sales company. Due to the success of
Twilight
,
Summit eventually became
Summit Entertainment
.
[3]
Family
[
edit
]
Eichinger was married to
Katja Hofmann
, a journalist. He had a daughter from a previous relationship,
Nina Eichinger
, an actress and TV presenter.
[4]
Death
[
edit
]
Eichinger died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on 24 January 2011 at the age of 61.
[1]
[5]
Awards
[
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]
Selected filmography
[
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]
Bernd Eichinger's best known films include:
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]
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Films directed
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Films produced
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Organisations
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Miscellaneous
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International
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National
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Academics
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People
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Other
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