---
name: "Marcel Ophüls"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/marcel-ophuls"
fi1m_id: "marcel-ophuls"
imdb_id: "nm0649096"
tmdb_id: 19789
wikidata_id: "Q711420"
roles: ["Producer","Director"]
born: "1 November 1927"
died: "24 May 2025"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 0
updated: "2026-09-26T01:41:09.005697+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Marcel Ophüls

## Identity

Marcel Ophüls

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/marcel-ophuls
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** marcel-ophuls
- **IMDb ID:** nm0649096
- **TMDB ID:** 19789
- **Wikidata ID:** Q711420
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Ophuls, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q711420, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0649096/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/19789

Producer and director. Born 1 November 1927 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Died 24 May 2025.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer, Director
- **Born:** 1 November 1927, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- **Died:** 24 May 2025
- **Active:** 1955–1988
- **Also known as:** Marcel Wall
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 1 directing, 1 crew, 1 other
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 81 (1), 1970s 86 (1), 1980s 89 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Ophuls, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q711420, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0649096/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/19789

## Biography

Marcel Ophüls (also credited as Marcel Wall) was a German-French and American documentary filmmaker. Born in Frankfurt am Main on 1 November 1927, he was the son of director Max Ophüls. His family fled Nazi Germany in 1933, settling first in France and then the United States in 1941. He studied at Occidental College and the University of California, Berkeley, and later became a naturalised French citizen.

Ophüls began his career as an assistant director on films including his father's *Lola Montès* (1955) and John Huston's *Moulin Rouge* (1952). He directed an episode of *Love at Twenty* (1962) and turned to documentaries in the late 1960s. He is best known for *The Sorrow and the Pity* (1969) and *Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie* (1988), the latter of which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Ophüls died on 24 May 2025 in Lucq-de-Béarn, France.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, apnews.com, theguardian.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

### Directed (1)

- *Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie* (1988), Fi1m 89, as Self — [page](https://film.one/film/hotel-terminus-the-life-and-times-of-klaus-barbie.md)

### Crew (1)

- *Lola Montès* (1955), Fi1m 81, as (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/lola-montes.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Annie Hall* (1977), Fi1m 86, Thanks — [page](https://film.one/film/annie-hall.md)

## Complete filmography (29)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Ain't Misbehavin* (2013), Director
- *Max par Marcel: Lola Montès* (2009), Director, Writer
- *The Troubles We've Seen* (1994), Director, Writer
- *November Days* (1991), Director, Writer
- *Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie* (1988), Writer, Director, Producer — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/hotel-terminus-the-life-and-times-of-klaus-barbie.md)
- *Das schöne irre Judenmädchen* (1984), as Medardus
- *Liberty Belle* (1983), as German teacher
- *Yorktown: The Meaning of a Victory* (1982), Director
- *Festspiele* (1982), as Clown · Director, Writer
- *Egon Schiele: Excess and Punishment* (1980), as Dr. Stovel
- *Kortnergeschichten* (1980), Director, Writer
- *Annie Hall* (1977), Thanks — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/annie-hall.md)
- *The Memory of Justice* (1976), Director, Producer, Writer
- *Inside Story* (1974), series, Director
- *A Sense of Loss* (1973), Director, Producer
- *À la recherche de mon Amérique* (1971), Director, Scenario Writer
- *Zwei ganze Tage* (1970), Director, Screenplay
- *The Harvest of My Lai* (1970), Writer, Director
- *Clavigo* (1970), Director
- *The Sorrow and the Pity* (1969), series, Director, Writer, Creator
- *Munich, or Peace in Our Time* (1967), Director, Writer
- *Make Your Bets Ladies* (1965), Screenplay, Director
- *Banana Peel* (1963), Director, Screenplay
- *Love at Twenty* (1962), Director, Writer
- *Munich* (1962), Director
- *Matisse ou Le talent de bonheur* (1960), Writer, Director
- *Das Pflichtmandat* (1958), Director
- *Lola Montès* (1955), as (uncredited) · Assistant Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/lola-montes.md)
- *The Girl with the Whip* (1952), Assistant Director

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won

- 1989: Best Documentary Feature Film (won), for *Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie*

### Other awards — 2 won

- Peter-Weiss Prize 1992: Peter-Weiss Prize (won)
- Grimme-Preis 1972: Grimme-Preis (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/marcel-ophuls