Henry Koster

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry Koster , actually Hermann Kosterlitz , (born May 1, 1905 in Berlin , † September 21, 1988 in Camarillo , California , USA ) was a German-American film director and screenwriter . In Hollywood he made a name for himself as a successful director of mostly cheerful films.

Life

Koster was born in 1905 in an upper class assimilated Jewish family in Berlin. His father practiced as a doctor. His mother's father was Julius Salomon, a well-known tenor . Koster's older brother Hans Walter Kosterlitz later became a famous pharmacologist at Aberdeen University . Koster's nephew, J. Michael Kosterlitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016. At the age of 17 he had already made a name for himself as a short story writer. In the 1930s he became the assistant to director Kurt Bernhardt . When he fell ill one day in the middle of filming in 1931, he took over the direction. He made three films for AAFA AG until he left Germany after taking power .

Koster went to Vienna as a film director and shot comedies with Franziska Gaal , among others . In 1935 he met Joe Pasternak from Universal Studios , moved to the United States and got a contract to direct three films. Koster became the savior of the bankrupt studio practically overnight thanks to three cute girls with 14-year-old Deanna Durbin . Durbin had only recently been dropped by MGM in favor of Judy Garland . Together with Pasternak they produced other films with Durbin until 1941, such as 100 men and a girl from 1937 in which Leopold Stokowski had a supporting role, First Love and Spring Parade . Koster worked for Universal until 1941, then for MGM. There he was largely responsible for the rise of Kathryn Grayson . Since 1948 he was under contract with 20th Century Fox . For Every Woman Needs an Angel with Loretta Young and Cary Grant , Koster received a nomination for best director at the 1948 Academy Awards . In 1952 he shot the first Cinemascope film with Das Gewand , after which he specialized in comedies as well as in costume films . Koster was a preferred director of James Stewart and both worked together five times, including the 1950 classic My Friend Harvey and 1963 Mr. Hobbs's Vacation. Koster remained a busy director of mostly cheerful films, then retired with Dominique in 1966 - The singing nun is back from the film business.

Henry Koster died in Camarillo , California in 1988 at the age of 83 . He was married twice, from 1934 to 1941 to Katharine Kiarly (one son, Bob Koster) and from 1942 to the actress Peggy Moran , with whom he had two children.

Filmography (selection)

script

Director

literature

  • Helmut G. Asper: The Rage of Hollywood. A material for film stories: Henry Koster in Hollywood. In: film service. 52nd Volume, No. 14, 1999, ISSN  0720-0781 , pp. 40-43.
  • Kay Less : 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. P. 286 f., ACABUS-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8

Web links