Ran away from home at age 12 and made his way to Paris; supported himself by washing dishes (date approximate)

Returned to Romania with the outbreak of WWI (date approximate)

Came to the United States

Earned a living for a time painting portraits

Began his career in Hollywood as a sketch artist for Paramount Pictures; worked on films including "A Farewell to Arms" (1932) and "The Story of Temple Drake" (1933)

Began working as a feature film writer when he co-wrote the original story for "Fight for Your Lady" and the screenplay for "Expensive Husbands"

Signed on with Warner Brothers

Worked as a second-unit director and an assistant producer

Made directorial debut for Warners with "Singapore Woman"

Achieved critical success with his second film, "The Mask of Dimitrios"

Last film for Warner Brothers, "Johnny Belinda"

Joined 20th Century-Fox; first film there, "Road House"

Last film for 20th Century-Fox for five years, "The Best of Everything"

Went to Europe to film the US-French-Italian co-production, "Jessica"

Moved to Marbella, Spain in the late 1960s

Made last films, "Hello-Goodbye" and "The Invincible Six"

After retiring from filmmaking, collected art and dealt in real estate