question: Why did the director of film The Merry Widow (1925 Film) die?
context: [["Ethel Jackson", ["Ethel Jackson (November 1, 1877 \u2013 November 23, 1957) was a United States actress and comic prima donna of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.", "She appeared in Broadway theatrical productions, creating the title role in the original Broadway production of \"The Merry Widow\"."]], ["Erich von Stroheim", ["Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim; September 22, 1885 \u2013 May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, actor and producer, most noted as a film star and avant garde, visionary director of the silent era.", "His masterpiece adaptation of Frank Norris's \"McTeague\" titled \"Greed\" is considered one of the finest and most important films ever made.", "After clashes with Hollywood studio bosses over budget and workers' rights issues, Stroheim was banned for life as a director and subsequently became a well-respected character actor, particularly in French cinema.", "For his early innovations as a director, Stroheim is still celebrated as one of the first of the auteur directors.", "He helped introduce more sophisticated plots and noirish sexual and psychological undercurrents into cinema.", "He died in 1957 in France of prostate cancer at the age of 71.", "Beloved by Parisian neo-Surrealists known as Letterists, he was honored by Letterist Maurice Lemaitre with a 70-minute 1979 film entitled \"Erich von Stroheim.\""]], ["Fredric Hope", ["Fredric Hope( January 22, 1900 \u2013 April 20, 1937) was an American art director.", "He won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for the film\" The Merry Widow\".", "He was born in New Brighton, Pennsylvania and died in Hollywood, California."]], ["Donald Brian", ["Donald Brian( February 17, 1877 \u2013 December 22, 1948) was an actor, dancer and singer born in St. John's, Newfoundland( now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada).", "In 1907, he starred in the hit operetta\" The Merry Widow\"."]], ["Lily Elsie", ["Elsie Cotton( n\u00e9e. Hodder, 8 April 1886 \u2013 16 December 1962), known professionally as Lily Elsie, was an English actress and singer during the Edwardian era.", "She was best known for her starring role in the London premiere of Franz Leh\u00e1r's operetta\" The Merry Widow\".", "Beginning as a child star in the 1890s, Elsie built her reputation in several successful Edwardian musical comedies before her great success in\" The Merry Widow\", opening in 1907.", "Afterwards, she starred in several more successful operettas and musicals, including\" The Dollar Princess\"( 1909),\" A Waltz Dream\"( 1911) and\" The Count of Luxembourg\"( 1911).", "Admired for her beauty and charm on stage, Elsie became one of the most photographed women of Edwardian times."]], ["The Merry Widow (1962 film)", ["The Merry Widow( originally Die lustige Witwe) is a 1962 Austrian/ French musical film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring Peter Alexander, Karin H\u00fcbner and Gunther Philipp.", "It is based on the operetta\" The Merry Widow\" by Franz Leh\u00e1r."]], ["The Merry Widow (1918 film)", ["The Merry Widow is a 1918 Hungarian musical film directed by Michael Curtiz.", "It is based on the operetta by Franz Leh\u00e1r."]], ["The Merry Widow (1925 film)", ["The Merry Widow is a 1925 American silent romantic drama/black comedy film directed and written by Erich von Stroheim.", "Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film stars Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Roy D'Arcy, and Tully Marshall, with pre-fame uncredited appearances by Joan Crawford and Clark Gable.", "The film is based on the Franz Leh\u00e1r's operetta of the same name, and was its second film adaptation, the first being a 1918 Hungarian film directed by Michael Curtiz.", "While a print of the film still survives, the end sequence shot in", "two-tone Technicolor is now lost."]], ["The Merry Widow (2007 film)", ["The Merry Widow is a 2007 French comedy film directed by Isabelle Mergault and starring Mich\u00e8le Laroque and Jacques Gamblin."]], ["Den glade enke i Trangvik", ["Den glade enke", "i Trangvik", "( English:\" The Merry Widow of Trangvik\") is a 1927 Norwegian silent drama film directed by Harry Ivarson.", "The movie is based on the content of Jacob Hilditch's satirical newspaper\" Trangviksposten\"."]]]
supporting_facts: [["The Merry Widow (1925 film)", 0], ["Erich von Stroheim", 5]]
evidences: [["The Merry Widow", "director", "Erich von Stroheim"], ["Erich von Stroheim", "cause of death", "cancer"]]
answer: cancer