Wilde was born in 1912[2][3] in Privigye, Kingdom of Hungary (now Prievidza, Slovakia),[4][5] although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City.

[6][7] His Hungarian Jewish parents were Vojtech Béla Weisz (anglicized to Louis Bela Wilde) and Renée Mary Vid (Rayna Miryam).

[9][10] In preparation for an acting career, he and his new wife Marjory Heinzen (later to be known as Patricia Knight) shaved years off their ages, three for him and five for her.

[citation needed] After studying at Theodora Irvine's Studio of the Theatre, Wilde began appearing in plays in stock and in New York.

[12] He toured with Tallulah Bankhead in a production of Antony and Cleopatra; during the run he married his co-star Patricia Knight.

Although the show only had a small run, his performance in this role netted him a Hollywood film contract with Warner Bros.[12] Wilde had an uncredited bit part in Lady with Red Hair (1940), then got a small part in High Sierra (1941), which included a scene with Humphrey Bogart.

[15] A Song to Remember was a big hit, made Wilde a star and earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Columbia promptly used him in two more films, both swashbucklers: as Aladdin in A Thousand and One Nights with Evelyn Keyes[16] and as the son of Robin Hood in The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (made 1945, released 1946).

Back at Fox, he played the male lead in Leave Her to Heaven (1945), with Gene Tierney and Jeanne Crain, an enormous hit at the box office.

[19] This suspension was soon lifted so Wilde could play the male lead in the studio's big budget version of Forever Amber (1947).

He returned to Fox for Two Flags West (1950), then went to RKO for At Sword's Point (filmed in 1949, but not released until 1952), a swashbuckler with Maureen O'Hara.

He had a part in the all-star executive drama Woman's World (1954) for Fox, then went back to action and adventure with Passion (1954) for RKO.

Their first movie was the film noir The Big Combo (1955), a co production with Security Pictures that was released through Allied Artists.

[24] Wilde produced and starred in another film for Theodora with Wallace, Storm Fear (1956) from a script by Horton Foote.

Wilde was meant to appear as Joshua in de Mille's The Ten Commandments (1956) but was not in the final film – he turned down the role, saying it was too small and the pay was too little (John Derek ended up playing it).

[27] As an actor only, he appeared in Hot Blood (1956) with Jane Russell for director Nicholas Ray, and Beyond Mombasa (1956), shot in Kenya; both were released by Columbia.

Wilde produced, directed and starred in two films for Theodora that were released through Paramount Pictures: The Devil's Hairpin (1957), a car-racing drama, and Maracaibo (1958).

The original script was largely based on a true historical incident about a trapper named John Colter being pursued by Blackfeet Indians in Wyoming.

He appeared as an unethical surgeon in the 1971 Night Gallery episode "Deliveries in the Rear" and portrayed an anthropologist in the 1972 TV movie Gargoyles.

Wilde senior and Wallace starred together in several films including The Big Combo (1955), Lancelot and Guinevere (1963), and Beach Red (1967).

[37] For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Cornel Wilde has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1635 Vine Street.