Billy Wilder is a film director.
Samuel `` Billy '' Wilder [ ˈwaɪldər ] [ ˈvɪldɐ ] ( June 22 , 1906March 27 , 2002 ) was an Austrian-born Jewish-American filmmaker , screenwriter , producer , artist , and journalist whose career spanned more than five decades . He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood 's golden age . Wilder established his directorial reputation with an adaption of James M. Cain 's Double Indemnity ( 1944 ) , a film noir . Wilder earned the Best Director and Best Screenplay Academy Awards for the adaptation of a Charles R. Jackson story The Lost Weekend ( 1945 ) , about alcoholism .