Werner Herzog

He had a daughter with his companion, Eva Mattes, in 1980.

After he divorced his first wife, he married Christine Maria Ebenberger, in 1987, and had a son, named Simon Herzog, with her. The duo split in 1994.

Werner Herzog Stipetić was born on September 5, 1942, to Dietrich Herzog and Elizabeth Stipetić, in Munich, Germany. The family was forced to move to a Bavarian village after their house was bombed during World War II.

They moved back to Munich when Herzog was twelve. It is believed that he was an extremely adamant child in school and would never play an instrument or sing in class, which almost resulted in his expulsion from the institute. At the age of 14, he developed an interest for filmmaking.

He stole a 35 mm camera from the Munich Film School and began filming whatever he could see around him. He won a scholarship to Duquesne University in Pennsylvania, but chose to study in the more reputed, University of Munich instead.

He travelled often which inspired his filmmaking in later life. In the 1960s, he worked as a welder in a steel factory. This helped him to fund his first film. t was during this time he directed his first fiction short film, ‘Herakles’.

In 1966, he worked briefly in television under the sponsorship of NASA.

In 1968, he directed his first film based on World War II titled, ‘Signs of Life’, which became a critical and commercial success. The film was later, showcased at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival and also won an important award. The next year, he made a documentary feature film, titled, ‘The Flying Doctors of East Africa’.

In 1970, he directed, ‘Even Dwarfs Started Small’, a horror-comedy-drama film, which was made on a shoe-string budget of $200,000. He also made his acting debut the next year with the film ‘Geschichten vom Kübelkind’.

In 1971, he made two documentary feature films, ‘Land of Silence and Darkness’ and ‘Handicapped Future’, both of which were critically acclaimed. The next year, he directed, ‘Fata Morgana’ and his well-acclaimed film, ‘Aguirre, The Wrath of God’.

From 1974 to 1980, he directed a number of feature films including, ‘The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser’, ‘Heart of Glass’, ‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’ and ‘Woyzeck’.

In 1982, he directed one of the greatest films of all time, ‘Fitzcarraldo’ starring one of the most difficult actors of the period, Klaus Kinski. The movie was based on the story of the baron, Carlos Fitzcarrald.

‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’, released in 1972, is one of this director’s most important works. An adventure film, it is also written by this illustrious director. This film marked the first of the five collaborations that the director had with Klaus Kinski. The movie opened to widespread critical acclaim and is currently viewed as one of the director’s best-known films till date. The Time magazine has included this movie in the list of ‘All Time 100 Best Films’. The movie also went on to influence Francis Ford Coppola’s classic, ‘Apocalypse Now’.