- For his appearance on Batman (1966), Preminger was paid $2,500, the standard fee for actors who appeared on the series after asking for a role. The Screen Actors Guild got wind of this, and ordered that none of their members were to work for Preminger unless he paid the SAG dues for his appearance on Batman, and various other monies he owed them dating back to his acting career. As a result, Preminger ended up $7,600 out of pocket from his turn as Mr. Freeze.
- He appeared on the famous British radio program "Desert Island Discs" in the spring of 1980, at the time of the British opening of his final film, The Human Factor (1979). This program asks well-known people what eight records they would bring with them to a desert island, together with one book and one luxury. His eight records consisted of music from his own films; his book selection was his own autobiography; and his luxury was a mirror. He got a great deal of publicity for this, but "The Human Factor" was a major box-office flop.
- At the premiere of Exodus (1960), Jewish comedian Mort Sahl is reported to have exclaimed, "Otto, let my people go!", which was ironic given that Preminger himself was Jewish.
- Father, with ecdysiast Gypsy Rose Lee, of producer-screenwriter Erik Lee Preminger.
- Directed 9 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Clifton Webb, Maggie McNamara, Dorothy Dandridge, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, Arthur O'Connell, George C. Scott, Sal Mineo and John Huston.
- Earned a degree in law while he lived in Vienna.
- Insisted that Robert Mitchum actually slap Jean Simmons for their scenes in Angel Face (1952). After a few takes which Preminger declined to print, Mitchum instead punched him and knocked him down.
- While filming Carmen Jones (1954), he began an affair with the film's star Dorothy Dandridge, which lasted four years. This relationship is portrayed in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999).
- His 1977 autobiography "Preminger: An Autobiography" was ghost-written by June Callwood who also ghost-wrote Barbara Walters 1970 book "How to Talk With Practically Anybody About Practically Anything".
- Chief executive at the Theater in Josefstadt in Vienna from 1933 to 1935.
- Following his death, he was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.
- The Austrian Post AG issued a special Stamp in Preminger's Honor on February 5, 2010 in the Series "Austrians in Hollywood". Face Value of the Stamp 0.55 Euro.
- Portrayed by Klaus Maria Brandauer in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) and by Christian Berkel in Trumbo (2015).
- During the filming of Saint Joan (1957), Jean Seberg (playing Joan of Arc) was about to be burned at the stake. To the horror of the cast and crew, the pile of wood below her actually caught fire. Despite cries and screams of horror, Preminger would not allow the flames extinguished until he had filmed the scene (from "Played Out: The Jean Seberg Story" by David Richards).
- Twins with Hope Bryce: Victoria and Mark (born October 3, 1960) (they were 11 at the time of their parents' marriage).
- Was preparing a drama about Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg to be called "Open Question", but died before he could realize this project.
- Collaborated with Max Reinhardt before emigrating from Austria to the United States.
- His father was a distinguished lawyer, Otto had intended go into law as well but was lured by the theatre and by the 1920's was the most imaginative producer/director.
- Interviewed in Peter Bogdanovich's "Who the Devil Made It: Conversations With Robert Aldrich, George Cukor, Allan Dwan, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Chuck Jones, Fritz Lang, Joseph H. Lewis, Sidney Lumet, Leo McCarey, Otto Preminger, Don Siegel, Josef von Sternberg, Frank Tashlin, Edgar G. Ulmer, Raoul Walsh." NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.
- He went to America in 1935 with a contract to direct films for 20th Century Fox and became one of the first producer/ directors.
- Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956.
- Voted the 47th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
- He has directed five films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Laura (1944), Carmen Jones (1954), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Porgy and Bess (1959) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959).
- Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945." Pages 888-898. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
- Brother of producer Ingo Preminger.
- Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 705-707. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
- Namechecked by French rapper M.C. Solaar on his record "Le nouveau western".
- Has a son, Erik.
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