F. W. Murnau

Friedrich Wilhelm "F. W." Murnau (28 December 1888 – 11 March 1931) was a German movie director. He was one of the most influential directors of the silent movie era. He was born in Bielefeld and attended the University of Heidelberg. He studied art history. He was openly gay. He was 6'4 (193 cm). He was said to have an icy disposition and an obsession with film. He was a combat pilot during World War I. He directed his first movie Der Knabe in Blau (English: The Boy in Blue) in 1919.

F. W. Murnau
Murnau circa 1920-1930
Born	Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe (1888-12-28)December 28, 1888 Bielefeld, Province of Westphalia, German Empire
Died	March 11, 1931(1931-03-11) (aged 42) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Burial place	Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1919–1931

Murnau's most famous movie is Nosferatu (1922). It was based on the book Dracula. Faust was Murnau's last German movie. Nosferatu and Faust were two of the first films to have original music. Some of his German movies were considered to be Expressionist movies.

Murnau went to Hollywood in 1926. He joined the Fox Studio. He made Sunrise in 1927. It did not make a lot of money. It did receive an Academy Award in 1929. Murnau's next two movies were sound movies. They were not well received. Murnau was disappointed. He quit Fox. He went to the South Pacific. In Bora Bora he made Tabu. The movie was censored in the United States for images of bare-breasted Polynesian women. Murnau died in an automobile accident in Santa Barbara, California. He is buried in Stahnsdorf near Berlin.Only 11 people attended his funeral. One of them was Greta Garbo.

F. W. Murnau Media

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  Murnau shooting a film in 1920

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  Murnau with Henri Matisse in Tahiti in 1930

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  Grave and bust by Ludwig Manzel in Stahnsdorf Southwestern Cemetery

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  Murnau's memorial plaque in Berlin

Other websites

• F. W. Murnau at AllRovi
• F. W. Murnau on IMDb