Wolf Rilla was born in Berlin, Germany in 1920, the son of renowned German actor Walter Rilla. As the Nazi party rose to power, Walter Rilla, who was Jewish, made the courageous decision to relocate his family to London, England.
After completing his education, Wolf Rilla joined the BBC World Review in 1942, where he worked until the late 1940s. He then transferred to the network's newly established television service, remaining there for a few years before pursuing his true passion for filmmaking.
In 1952, Rilla made his debut as a writer/director with the film Glad Tidings!, marking the beginning of his independent career in low-budget filmmaking. He went on to make several more features, including The End of the Road (1954) and Navy Heroes (1955),which received positive critical reviews.
Rilla's next project, Bachelor of Hearts (1958),was a box-office success, cementing his reputation as a talented filmmaker. In 1960, he directed his most famous film, the chilling Village of the Damned, based on John Wyndham's novel "The Midwich Cuckoos". The film, which Rilla co-wrote with Ronald Kinnoch and Stirling Silliphant, was a massive success, grossing over $1.5 million in the US alone on an $82,000 budget.
Rilla continued to work in film and television throughout the 1960s, directing projects such as Cairo (1963),a remake of John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle. He also occasionally lectured at the International Film School in London and wrote a well-received guide to screenwriting, "A-Z of Movie Making", in 1970.
In addition to his work in the film industry, Rilla was an active member of the British Directors Guild and the film technicians' trade association ACTT. He eventually retired from filmmaking and, with his wife, operated a hotel/restaurant in Provence, France.
