Bernd Eichinger

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 Born

 Died

 Occupation
 Years active
 Spouse(s)
 Partner(s)
Katja Flint (1990s)
 Children

**Bernd Eichinger** (German: [bɛʁnt ˈaɪ.̯çɪŋ.ɐ] (listen); 11 April 1949 – 24 January 2011) was a German film producer, director, and screenwriter.

## Contents

* 1Life and career
* 2Family
* 3Death
* 4Awards
* 5Selected filmography
* 6References
* 7External links

## Life and career[edit]

Eichinger was born in Neuburg an der Donau. He attended the University of Television and Film Munich in the 1970s, and bought a stake in the fledgling studio company *Neue Constantin Film* in 1979, becoming its executive director. Under his leadership, Constantin Film evolved into one of the most successful German film businesses. As of 2005, he was chairman of the supervisory board and still owned a substantial stake in the company. Eichinger also produced some movies independently (for example *Downfall*).[1] One of Eichinger's last films was about the left-wing terrorist group Red Army Faction (RAF) based on the book *Der Baader Meinhof Komplex* ("*The Baader-Meinhof Complex*") by Stefan Aust.[2]

The range of genres of films, for television and the big screen, was unusually varied. He produced a 3D zombie movie, *Resident Evil: Afterlife*; to *Atomised*, a film adaptation of the controversial novel by French recluse Michel Houellebecq. He was an incredibly prolific film maker, with almost 100 films to his credit.[3]

Eichinger was known as tenacious. It took him 20 years to convince Patrick Süskind, the German author of *Perfume:The Story of a Murderer*, to trust him with the rights to make the international bestseller into a film. In 2006 the film was released, grossing $135 million worldwide.[3]

In the 1980s Eichinger obtained the film rights to the *Fantastic Four* and *Silver Surfer*, decades before making movies based on Marvel comics was trending.[3]

In 1991 he was a co-founder of Summit, the Los Angeles-based production and film sales company. Due to the success of *Twilight,* Summit eventually became Summit Entertainment.[3]

## Family[edit]

Eichinger with his wife Katja in 2008
Eichinger was married to Katja Hofmann, a journalist. He has a daughter from a previous relationship, Nina Eichinger, an actress and TV presenter.[4]

## Death[edit]

Eichinger died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on 24 January 2011 at the age of 61.[1][5]

## Awards[edit]

* 1984 Bavarian Film Awards, Best Producing
* 1986 Bavarian Film Awards, Best Producing
* 1993 Bavarian Film Awards, Best Producing[6]

## Selected filmography[edit]

Bernd Eichinger's best known films include:

## External links[edit]

* Bernd Eichinger at IMDb
* Constantin Film's official website

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* BNF: cb15045537m (data)
* CANTIC: a11666754
* CiNii: DA14659814
* GND: 12232997X
* ISNI: 0000 0001 1659 1771
* LCCN: nr97038022
* NKC: jo2004249895
* NLA: 35349500
* NLI: 001761757
* NTA: 270134247
* PLWABN: 9810584096605606
* SNAC: w6mj1634
* SUDOC: 087680750
* Trove: 921262
* VIAF: 64291092
* WorldCat Identities: lccn-nr97038022

Categories:

* 1949 births
* 2011 deaths
* People from Neuburg an der Donau
* Mass media people from Bavaria
* University of Television and Film Munich alumni
* Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
* Recipients of the Bavarian Order of Merit