Walter Wanger

Walter Wanger was an American film producer active in filmmaking from the 1910s to the turbulent production of Cleopatra, his last film, in 1963. He began at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and eventually worked at virtually every major studio as either a contract producer or an independent. He also served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1939 to October 1941 and from December 1941 to 1945. Strongly influenced by European films, Wanger developed a reputation as an intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas. He achieved notoriety when, in 1951, he shot and wounded the agent of his then-wife, Joan Bennett, because he suspected they were having an affair. He was convicted for the crime and served a four-month sentence, then returned to making movies.