FILM DIRECTOR

F. W. Murnau

1888 - 1931

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Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888 – March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He is regarded as one of cinema's most influential filmmakers for his work in the silent era. An erudite child with an early interest in film, Murnau eventually studied philology and art before director Max Reinhardt recruited him to his acting school. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of F. W. Murnau has received more than 1,073,307 page views. His biography is available in 46 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 45 in 2019). F. W. Murnau is the 84th most popular film director (down from 72nd in 2019), the 523rd most popular biography from Germany (down from 444th in 2019) and the 7th most popular German Film Director.

F. W. Murnau is most famous for his 1922 film Nosferatu, which is an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.1M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 66.08

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 46

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 7.12

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.15

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among FILM DIRECTORS

Among film directors, F. W. Murnau ranks 84 out of 2,041. Before him are Elia Kazan, Terry Gilliam, Franco Zeffirelli, Costa-Gavras, Dario Argento, and Carlos Saura. After him are Peter Brook, Fred Zinnemann, Wolfgang Petersen, Satyajit Ray, Jim Jarmusch, and Carl Theodor Dreyer.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1888, F. W. Murnau ranks 30. Before him are Richard E. Byrd, Friedrich Fromm, Johannes Itten, T. S. Eliot, Gerrit Rietveld, and Maurice Chevalier. After him are Selman Waksman, Friedrich Olbricht, Andrei Tupolev, Anton Makarenko, Inge Lehmann, and Abul Kalam Azad. Among people deceased in 1931, F. W. Murnau ranks 16. Before him are Geli Raubal, Lili Elbe, Joseph Joffre, George Herbert Mead, Theo van Doesburg, and Carl Nielsen. After him are Bhagat Singh, Hermann Müller, Armand Fallières, Peter Kürten, Nathan Söderblom, and Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

Others Born in 1888

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Others Deceased in 1931

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In Germany

Among people born in Germany, F. W. Murnau ranks 523 out of 7,253. Before him are Klaus Mann (1906), Erhard Milch (1892), Wassily Leontief (1906), Hans Spemann (1869), Johann Rudolf Glauber (1604), and Albert, Duke of Prussia (1490). After him are Peter Simon Pallas (1741), Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742), Frederick Trump (1869), Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1858), Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1860), and Paul Breitner (1951).

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Among FILM DIRECTORS In Germany

Among film directors born in Germany, F. W. Murnau ranks 7. Before him are Leni Riefenstahl (1902), Wim Wenders (1945), Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945), Michael Haneke (1942), Werner Herzog (1942), and Ernst Lubitsch (1892). After him are Wolfgang Petersen (1941), Volker Schlöndorff (1939), Roland Emmerich (1955), Max Ophüls (1902), Margarethe von Trotta (1942), and Douglas Sirk (1897).

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Filmography

Nosferatu
Director
In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok's servant, Knock (Alexander Granach), prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.
Feb 16o 19227.7 / 10
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Director
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with British Film Institute in 2004.
Nov 4o 19277.9 / 10
Faust
Director
God and Satan war over earth; to settle things, they wager on the soul of Faust, a learned and prayerful alchemist.
Oct 13o 19267.884 / 10