Born: December 5th, 1890

Died: August 2nd, 1976

High of His Life: It’s probably easy to say that Fritz Lang’s career was seriously boosted by his 1927 science fiction hit Metropolis. One of his most notable films, this art piece of German expressionism was made during the Weimar Period. The film is clearly dystopian, which is probably partly why it’s been cataloged as pop culture gold. Once in Hollywood he worked on Fury (1936) with Spencer Tracy, which started his film noir genre exploration. His other big films from Hollywood were The Big Heat (1953) and While the City Sleeps (1956).

Low of His Life: Probably the fact that his films came and went without much recognition until after his death. That kind of sucks a little—feeling unappreciated until a bunch of film geeks understand what you worked so hard on for all those years. But then again, most artists die feeling alone and useless. I guess people only realize their genius years later just to continue that morbid tradition. Also, having to emigrate from his homeland in the advent of World War II was not a pleasant experience by any means.

Who Sees Him As A Hero: Pretentious film students, science fiction geeks, and Jean Luc Godard.