Birthday for the multi-talented Olympic alpine skier and long-time James Bond film collaborator Willy Bogner Jr. who turns 70.
With this dedicated page, we would like to send our personal wishes to Mr. Bogner on this special day.
"Dear Willy, happy birthday and warm regards from Sweden."
About Willy Bogner Jr.:
In the US, people like Willy are called "renaissance" as modelled by da Vinci. People of such calibre dedicate their efforts, lives, and passions to various types of work - and demonstrate their multiple talents in whatever they do. Willy Bogner Jr. not only had a reputation as one of the leading German entrepreneurs; he was famous as a top class sportsman and also achieved international fame as a film director and producer.
Willy was born in Munich 1942, his activities were never about work - and always about a calling - which was brought to life by his dedication, passion, and power. He took part in two Olympic Games (1960 and 1964) as a skier; by the age of 16 he was already a multiple German youth champion and at 17 was the first German to win the famous Lauberhornrennen.
Willy Bogner Jr. studied business and clothing technology before he, in 1972, joined the company founded by his parents in 1932 and which he ran after the death of Willy Sr in 1977,. He continued to expand the company into one of the best established global lifestyle brands.
As if two outstanding careers were not enough, at the end of the 1960s, Willy Bogner Jr. dedicated himself to a new challenge. In 1968, he founded his own film production company - Willy Bogner Film GmbH - and this established his current reputation as one of the best ski cameramen in the world. For Ski Fascination (1966), Bogner invented choreographed skiing which impressed legendary producer Albert R. Broccoli so much that he signed Bogner as the director and cameraman for the ski scenes in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
The photographer, director, actor, producer, and author can look back on nearly 40 films, including four James Bond films, for which he worked as a cameraman and director for the ski scenes, and the most successful German sports film Fire and Ice (1986).
View a clip from the ski chase in On Her Majesty`s Secret Service (1969):