Gerd Oswald
Gerd Oswald (June 9, 1919 – May 22, 1989) was a German director of American films and television.
Also recorded as Gerd Gunther Oswald
Gerd Oswald
- Name
- Gerd Oswald
- Born
- 9 June 1919
- Birthplace
- Berlin, Germany
- Died
- 22 May 1989
- Place of death
- Los Angeles, California, United States
- Occupation
- Film director
- Nationality
- United States and Germany.
- Honours
- National Board of Review Award for Best Film.
- Languages
- German and English.
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Documentary summary
Gerd Oswald (June 9, 1919 – May 22, 1989) was a German director of American films and television.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Gerd Oswald (1919–1989) was a German and American actor, director and film director, among other activities. Born in Berlin, the actor died in Los Angeles. Gerd Oswald worked in United States.
Languages used include English and German. The actor received National Board of Review Award for Best Film.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q316957 · wikipedia · Gerd Oswald
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Gerd Oswald • Born — 9 June 1919 • Birthplace — Berlin, Germany • Died — 22 May 1989 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, United States • Occupation — Film director • Parents — Richard Oswald
Biography
Biography
Born in Berlin, Oswald was the son of German film director Richard Oswald and actress Käthe Oswald. He worked as a child actor before emigrating to the United States in 1938. Early production jobs at low-budget studios like Monogram Pictures prepared Oswald for a directorial career. Oswald's film credits include A Kiss Before Dying (1956), Valerie (1957), Crime of Passion (1957), Brainwashed (1960), and Bunny O'Hare (1971). His television credits include Perry Mason, Blue Light, Bonanza, The Outer Limits, The Fugitive, Star Trek, Gentle Ben, It Takes a Thief, Rawhide, and The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series). Oswald directed the 1966 film Agent for H.A.R.M., which was the basis of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. He was an assistant director for 20 years, including on his father's film The Captain from Köpenick (completed in 1941, but only released in 1945), aka Passport to Heaven and I Was a Criminal. Oswald was the uncredited second-unit director of The Longest Day (1962) responsible for staging the parachute drop scenes into Sainte-Mère-Église, France on D-Day, during the Normandy landings of World War II. Oswald died of cancer in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 69.
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the heading Gerd Gunther Oswald. His recorded languages were German and English. He was the child of Richard Oswald and Käte Oswald.
Identity
Identity
Gerd Oswald is recorded as actor, screenwriter, film producer, director and writer.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1919
Gerd Oswald born at Berlin.
1989
Gerd Oswald died at Los Angeles.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Berlin.
Birth place
Los Angeles.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q316957: Gerd Oswald
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Gerd Oswald”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Gerd Oswald, Film Noir the Directors, 2012
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2012
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Langman, Larry. Destination Hollywood: The Influence of Europeans on American Filmmaking. McFarland & Company. 106. 1999. 978-0786406814.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 4
- Parsons, Louella (November 15, 1970). "Pola Negri to Return to Germany". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 10
- Para. Camera Winners. The Hollywood Reporter. 2. June 24, 1949.
- "A New Star in the TV Heavens: Last-minute coaching". Ebony. January 1967. p. 74
- "Gerd Oswald Forms Own Company". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. June 7, 1969. p. 10
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Gerd Oswald, Film Noir the Directors, 2012Crossref registry
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,960 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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