If there's one writer or director who says he's not influenced in some way by Billy Wilder, he probably lying. In a career that spanned more than 30 years, the writer/director produced enough classics to make any film maker jealous.

Not bad for a man who was born Samuel Wilder in Austria in 1906 and worked as a crime reporter as well as, allegedly, a dancer and gigolo, before turning to film.

After fleeing from the Nazis to Paris in 1933, he ended up going to Hollywood after managing to sell a screenplay to Columbia Pictures, where his startling imagination and gift for words was hindered by his lack of English. Luckily, one producer had enough foresight to partner him with veteran scribe Charles Brackett. The duo would end up co-writing 14 screenplays and sharing two Oscars.

His filmography can be divided into two very distinct sections. There was the early, dark period, which produced such memorable movies as "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) and Double Indemnity (1944) This was then followed by some slightly more light-hearted years, but while his comedies are never short of laughs, they are always filled his trademark cynicism.

Many consider "Some Like It Hot" (1959) as the greatest comedy of all time and certainly the classic wisecracks and spot-on performances from its two leads Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, glittering in drag, put it right up there.

But "The Apartment" (1960), about a man (Lemmon) who lends his abode to his bosses for their extra-marital affairs, surpassed even that. The Academy agreed and Wilder earned three Oscars for his efforts.

Married twice - the second since 1949 - Wilder is still living and has one daughter, along with six Oscars. Though the latter part of his career yielded less success, his contribution to modern Hollywood is undeniable, with many current artists considering him their inspiration, among them Cameron Crowe, who asked him to cameo in "Jerry Maguire" (1996) as the pep-talking mentor. Wilder declined.

Whether you prefer the comedy or the dramas, one thing about Wilder remains unquestioned: he has a way with words.