People active in the silent era and people who keep the silent era alive. Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Photograph: Silent Era image collection.

Josef von Sternberg

Born 29 May 1894 in Vienna, Austria, as Joseph Stern.
Died 22 December 1969 in Hollywood, California, USA, of a heart attack.

Josef von Sternberg worked for the World Film Corporation as a writer, editor and assistant director. During World War I he made training films for the U.S. Signal Corps. After the war, Sternberg moved to Europe to apprentice as a filmmaker in several countries. By the time of his arrival in Hollywood in 1924, Stern had become Josef von Sternberg. He soon persuaded actor George K. Arthur to fork over $4800 in savings to help finance the independent film production The Salvation Hunters (1925).

References: Fell-History p. 120.