William Wellman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter-director of the original A Star Is Born (1937),was known as "Wild Bill" due to his larger-than-life personality and lifestyle. Born in 1896 in Brookline, MA, Wellman was the great-great-great-grandson of Francis Lewis, one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
As a young man, Wellman was a hell-raiser who enjoyed playing ice hockey and joyriding in stolen cars at nights. He worked as a candy salesman, cotton salesman, and lumber yard employee before joining the French Foreign Legion to learn how to fly during World War I. He earned his nickname "Wild Bill" due to his devil-may-care style in the air.
After the war, Wellman returned to the US and joined the US Army Air Corps, where he was commissioned an officer and taught combat fighting tactics to new pilots. He began his career in Hollywood as an actor, but soon turned to directing after being fired from an acting role for slapping the lead actress.
Wellman's breakthrough film was Wings (1927),a World War I flying epic that won the first Academy Award for Best Picture. He went on to direct over 80 films, including The Public Enemy (1931),Wild Boys of the Road (1933),and The High and the Mighty (1954). Wellman was known for his perfectionism, which often led to delays and budget overruns, but also resulted in critically acclaimed films.
Wellman's disdain for actors was well-known, and he often bullied them to elicit a performance. He married five times and had a reputation as a hard-drinking, womanizing "man's man." Despite his rough exterior, Wellman was known to be a generous and loyal friend, and was respected by his peers in the film industry.
Wellman's legacy as a director was cemented with his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America in 1973. He died in 1975 from leukemia, leaving behind a body of work that continues to be celebrated and studied by film enthusiasts and historians today.
