# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/f-w-murnau
# Generated: 2026-09-01T09:20:36.020Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/f-w-murnau"
name: "F. W. Murnau"
slug: "f-w-murnau"
description: "He turned an unlicensed Dracula knockoff into one of the most haunting images in cinema history, then proved it wasn't a fluke: three more silent masterpieces before Hollywood, a fourth that critics still call one of the best films ever made, then death in a car wreck days before his last picture opened."
tagline: "German film director (1888–1931)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Friedrich_Wilhelm_Murnau.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Germany"
  isoCode: "DE"
category:
  name: "Directors"
  slug: "directors"
profileType:
  name: "Movie Director"
  slug: "director"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q33999"
birthDate: "1888-12-28"
deathDate: "1931-03-11"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           58.53
  momentum:             5.028670201968999
  historical:           23.81027733333334
  currentAttention:     15.10134553180087
  sourceConfidence:     70
  profileCompleteness:  80
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Actors"
    slug: "actors"
  - name: "Actor"
    slug: "actor"
  - name: "Television"
    slug: "television"
  - name: "Screenwriting"
    slug: "screenwriting"
  - name: "Film Directing"
    slug: "film-directing"
  - name: "Movies"
    slug: "movies"
  - name: "Germany"
    slug: "germany"
  - name: "Europe"
    slug: "europe"
platforms:
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    handle:    "nm0003638"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "http://www.filmmuseum-berlin.de/fwmurnau/"
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    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
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    title: "فريدريك مورناو"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "مۆرناو"
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    title: "Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau"
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    title: "Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "F. W. Murnau"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Wilhelm_Murnau"
    title: "Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "F. W. Murnau"
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    title: "Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau"
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    title: "Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau"
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    title: "Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/1179676"
    title: "Discogs"
    type:  "DATABASE"
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    title: "Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.themoviedb.org/person/9076"
    title: "F. W. Murnau"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau studied philology and art before Max Reinhardt pulled him into his acting school, then spent World War I as an infantry officer and later a Flying Corps observer, surviving multiple crashes. His first film as director appeared in 1919, but 1922's Nosferatu — an unauthorized Dracula adaptation that Stoker's estate nearly destroyed — made him a name in German Expressionist cinema despite commercial failure. The Last Laugh in 1924 and a Faust adaptation in 1926 cemented his reputation before Fox lured him to Hollywood, where Sunrise in 1927 became what many would call one of the greatest films ever made. He travelled to Bora Bora in 1931 to co-direct Tabu with Robert Flaherty, ended up finishing it alone after disputes, and died in a California hospital on 11 March from injuries in a car accident — a week before the film's successful premiere. Of his 21 films, only 12 survive complete.