Max Ophüls, a renowned director, was born Max Oppenheimer in the city of Saarbrücken, Germany. He embarked on a career as a stage actor and director during the glamorous 1920s, performing in various cities such as Stuttgart, Dortmund, Wuppertal, Vienna, Frankfurt, Breslau, and Berlin.
In 1929, his son Marcel Ophüls was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and by this time, Ophüls had already begun working under his pseudonym Max Ophüls. As the 1930s unfolded, Ophüls discovered the captivating world of cinema and started his journey as an assistant director for the esteemed Anatole Litvak. Concurrently, he also directed his initial films, including "I'd Rather Have Cod Liver Oil" (1931) and "The Company's in Love" (1932).
Around 1933, Ophüls made the decision to emigrate to France, where he spent a period of eight years working in the Netherlands and Italy. Eight years later, in 1941, he emigrated once more, this time to the United States, where he resided for a decade before returning to France in 1950.
Beginning in 1954, Ophüls also worked in Germany again, primarily for German radio in Baden-Baden. Max Ophüls passed away in March 1957 in Hamburg, Germany, and his final resting place is on the P renownedère-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France.
