Gunther von Fritsch was a Hungarian film and television director. He was born in Pola, Küstenland, Austria-Hungary on July 15th, 1906. Gunther was active primarily from the 1930s through the 1970s, and he began his career as an editor, specializing in documentary shorts. Gunther's first feature film work, which was also his first and only venture into the horror genre, was the 1944 movie The Curse of the Cat People, which he co-directed with Robert Wise. Robert Wise was brought in to complete directing on the film after Gunther von Fritsch had fallen behind on schedule. Gunther V. Fritsch passed away in Pasadena, California on August 27th, 1988 at the age of 82.