JOE MAY

Joe May was incredibly important to German cinema! He started directing in 1911 and started a production company a few years later. He was the first to hire Fritz Lang (as a screenwriter). When the Nazis rose to power, he went to the U.S. where he became a director for Universal, but he did not have the success of other German directors, likely because he did not learn English very well, and had a poor attitude toward the cast and crew. His last movie was for Monogram in 1944, and he later owned a restaurant in Hollywood, where he was the inspiration for Seinfeld's decades later "Soup Nazi", telling customers what they should and shouldn't order! May passed away in 1954 at the age of 73.