Years active 1928–1984 (ski) Name Otto Lang | Role Director Spouse Sinclair Gannon | |
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Born 21 January 1908 ( 1908-01-21 ) Tesanj, Austria-Hungary Occupation ski school instructor/director, film producer Died January 30, 2006, Seattle, Washington, United States Books A bird of passage, Around the World in 90 Years: Images from My Life's Journey Awards Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay Movies 5 Fingers, Search for Paradise, Call Northside 777, Love Is a Many‑Splendored Thing, Tora! Tora! Tora! Similar People Henry Hathaway, Henry King, Lyle R Wheeler, Jennifer Jones, Michael Wilson | ||
Otto lang hollywood how skiing has come to america
Otto Lang (21 January 1908 – 30 January 2006) was a skier and pioneer ski instructor from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who lived and worked in the United States. He founded ski schools on Mount Rainier, Mount Baker and Mount Hood beginning in the 1930s, and as the director of the ski school at Sun Valley became the ski instructor for Hollywood stars. Later he became a movie director and producer, primarily due to his contacts at Sun Valley. He demonstrated ski techniques in Jerome Hill's documentary Ski Flight (1938) which premiered at Radio City Music Hall.
Lang was hired by Darryl F. Zanuck to assist with the ski sequences of the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade starring Sonja Henie, which ultimately led to his cinematic work. Some of his notable feature films include Call Northside 777 (1948 - producer), 5 Fingers (1952 - producer), Search for Paradise (working title The Search for Shangri-La) (1956 - director) and Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970 - associate producer of the Japanese segments). He produced the short films Vesuvius Express (1953), The First Piano Quartette (1954) and Jet Carrier (1954) nominated for Academy Awards.
Otto Lang is also an author. His memoir, A Bird of Passage – The Story of My Life -- From the Alps of Austria to Hollywood, U.S.A., was published in 1994, and the same year he was presented Ski Film Maker Legend of the Year award at the Crested Butte International Ski Film Festival. Around the World in 90 Years – Images From My Life’s Journey, published in 2000, is a collection of photographs taken by Mr. Lang during his lifelong travels. The pages include his anecdotal descriptions of the photographs and his life. In 1978 he was inducted into the US National Ski Hall of Fame, and in 2004 he was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Snowsports Journalists Association.