Rainer Werner Fassbinder was born on May 31, 1946 in Bad Wörishofen, West Germany. He dropped out of school at age 16 and worked odd jobs. He applied to the Berlin Film School, but was turned down. His career began with Munich's Action-Theatre, for which he wrote, acted, and directed. In 1968, Fassbinder founded his own small theatre company. He made his first full-length motion picture in 1969. His films are very socially and politically oriented, and he often uses themes of oppression and despair. Fassbinder worked quickly, and his films were often unpolished, but the impact of his scenes was mesmerizing and often had a strong sensual atmosphere. Between 1969 and 1982, Fassbinder made forty-four films, wrote fourteen plays, revised six others, and directed twenty-five, wrote four radio plays and thirty-seven screenplays, and collaborated on thirteen more scripts with other writers. His films include The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant, 1972), Effi Briest (1974), Lola (1981), and Veronika Voss (1982). The Marriage of Maria Braun (Die Ehe der Maria Braun, 1979), part of Fassbinder's great trilogy, is an ironic view of a marriage that reflects German history from World War II to the "economic miracle" of the 1950s. Rainer Werner Fassbinder's career was cut short when he died of a drug overdose in Munich on June 10, 1982 at the age of 36.
