Born and raised in Germany just before the start of World War II, Wolfgang Glattes studied architecture at Munich Technical University for two years before finding part-time work as a television and film extra, working on George Cukor and Alain Renais productions. Intrigued by film production and mentored by German director Volker Schlondorff, Glattes secured a third assistant director position at Bavaria Film, mostly working on musical productions. He transitioned to first assistant director on Jack of Diamonds (1967), which was directed by Don Taylor.

Since Jack of Diamonds, Glattes has worked as a first assistant director on such productions as A Walk with Love and Death (John Huston, 1969), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Mel Stuart, 1971), Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972), Rosebud (Otto Preminger, 1975), Twilight’s Last Gleaming (Robert Aldrich, 1977), Too Many Chefs (Ted Kotcheff, 1978), The Betsy (Daniel Petrie, 1978), All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979), Still of the Night (Robert Benton, 1982), Star 80 (Bob Fosse, 1983), Power (Sidney Lumet, 1986) and The Morning After (Sidney Lulmet,1986) among others. As a Unit Production Manager, he has worked on Nadine (Robert Benton, 1987), The Handmaid’s Tale (Volker Schlondorff, 1990), Blue Chips (William Friedkin, 1994) and Hart’s War (Gregory Hoblit, 2002).

Glattes has been a member of the Guild since 1976.