Former assistant to German stage producer Max Reinhardt who began his directing career with the 1935 Broadway melodrama, "Libel". Preminger then directed a couple of B films at 20th Century-Fox before a dispute with Darryl F. Zanuck temporarily halted his behind-the-camera career. When he found himself in demand as an actor--Preminger's stern features and Viennese accent made him the perfect screen Nazi--he used this new popularity to maneuver his way back into the director's chair. Preminger made his breakthrough with the critical and commercial smash, "Laura" (1944), on which he took over the direction from Rouben Mamoulian. His subsequent work at Fox was disappointing and he began independently producing his own films, through his Carlyle Productions company, in the early 1950s. Preminger soon earned a reputation for turning out controversial works which broached previously taboo subjects such as drug addiction ("The Man With the Golden Arm" 1955).

A skilled technician who lacked any consistently discernable style, Preminger's career encompassed polished successes including "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959), "Exodus" (1960), "Advise and Consent" (1961) and "Bunny Lake is Missing" (1965), alongside notable flops such as "Saint Joan" (1957) and "Rosebud" (1975). Father, by stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, of producer-screenwriter Eric Lee Preminger and brother of agent-turned-producer Ingo Preminger.