Birth name

Georg Wilhelm Pabst is the full name in LOC and MoMA artist records; "G. W. Pabst" is the professional initialed form (LOC; MoMA). Pabst is not an invented surname.

Weimar classics and later career

A central Weimar Republic director, Pabst made The Joyless Street, Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl (both with Louise Brooks), Westfront 1918, and Kameradschaft. His career continued through the Nazi era and postwar years in ways historians still debate; the silent/early-sound classics remain his lasting reputation (MoMA; filmportal).

He died in Vienna in 1967. Louise Brooks's star image is inseparable from Pandora's Box in film history.

Pandora's Box Blu-ray (Criterion) Diary of a Lost Girl Blu-ray/DVD books on Weimar cinema

Why the "real name" question matters

Search interest in a celebrity's "real name" usually means a shortened everyday form, a middle name used as a handle, or a true stage/legal change. This page states which case applies and cites sources rather than gossip.

Readers comparing credits across IMDb, Wikipedia, and national filmographies sometimes find spelling variants (accents, hyphenation, maternal surnames). Where two reliable sources disagree on a middle name or exact birthplace wording, this draft notes both rather than inventing a single form.