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Otto Graham was born on this day in 1921

Word of the Day – Wednesday, December 5th

 


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OTTO (AH-toh)

Otto Preminger: American film producer and director
Otto Graham: American football player and coach
Otto Klemperer: German-born conductor and composer
Common clues: Conductor Klemperer; Filmmaker Preminger; Preminger or Graham; Director Preminger; NFL Hall of Famer Graham; Maestro Klemperer
Crossword puzzle frequency: 11 times a year
Frequency in English language: 11089 / 86800
Video: Otto Graham's winning ways


Directing her was like directing Lassie. You need 14 takes to get each one of them right. ~ Otto Preminger on Marilyn Monroe


Otto Ludwig Preminger (December 5, 1906 – April 23, 1986) was a film director. Born in Vienna, of assimilated Jewish ancestry, he worked with Max Reinhardt before immigrating to America. At first he directed and acted for 20th Century Fox, his Austrian accent typecasting him as a screen Nazi.




After the war, he became one of the most consistent Hollywood directors of the 1950s and early 1960s — delivering intelligent and entertaining films, often literary adaptations, albeit rather melodramatic or heavy-going on occasion.

Notable films include Anatomy of a Murder with James Stewart and Ben Gazzara, Advise and Consent with an on-form Charles Laughton, and Bonjour Tristesse with David Niven and Deborah Kerr.

Through a relationship with Gypsy Rose Lee he had one child, the screenwriter Eric Lee Preminger.

Otto Preminger died in 1986 and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York.


***


Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921–December 17, 2003) was a professional American football player.


Born in Waukegan, Illinois, Graham graduated from Northwestern University. He played tailback in his college years. Graham also played basketball at Northwestern. Upon joining the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946, he was switched to quarterback. He also played professional basketball in 1946 with the Rochester Royals.


During the AAFC's four-year existence, the Browns won the championship each year. Graham threw for 10,085 yards and 86 touchdowns, while rushing for 11 more.




The Browns joined the National Football League in 1950, and won the league championship in their first NFL season. Behind Graham's 88 touchdowns in the NFL, the Browns won two more league titles, in 1954 and 1955. In the 1954 championship game against the Detroit Lions, Graham ran for three touchdowns and passed for three more.

Graham had an astounding 105-17-4 record with the Browns before he retired after the 1955 season. He is the only NFL QB to take his team to the Championship game every year he played and his 86.6 career pass rating is one of the best of all time. In 1955 Graham won the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year. In 1965 he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


***


Otto Klemperer (14 May 1885 – 6 July 1973) was a German-born conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.




Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia, then in Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). Klemperer studied music first at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, and later in Berlin under Hans Pfitzner. In 1905 he met Gustav Mahler while conducting the off-stage brass at a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, 'Resurrection'. The two men became friends, and Klemperer became conductor at the German Opera in Prague in 1907 on Mahler's recommendation. Mahler wrote a short testimonial, recommending Klemperer, on a small card which Klemperer kept for the rest of his life. Later, in 1910, Klemperer assisted Mahler in the premiere of his Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand.


A severe fall during a visit to Montreal forced Klemperer subsequently to conduct seated in a chair. A severe burning accident further paralyzed him, which resulted from his smoking in bed and trying to douse the flames with a glass of whisky. Through Klemperer's problems with his health, the tireless and unwavering support and assistance of Klemperer's daughter Lotte was crucial to his success. His son, Werner Klemperer, was an actor and became known for his portrayal of Colonel Klink on the US television show Hogan's Heroes. The diarist Victor Klemperer was a cousin; so were Georg Klemperer and Felix Klemperer, who were famous physicians.


Klemperer took Israeli citizenship in 1970. He retired from conducting in 1971. Klemperer died in Zürich, Switzerland in 1973, aged 88, and was buried in Zurich's Israelitischer Friedhof-Oberer Friesenberg.



This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Otto Preminger", “Otto Klemperer”, and “Otto Graham”