After visiting elementary school in Benrath and secondary school in Derendorf, Piel became a cadet on a sail training ship in Hamburg in 1909. He then started a commercial apprenticeship but went to Paris in 1911 to become a stunt pilot.

In 1912, Piel produced, wrote, and directed the successful adventure film "Schwarzes Blut", starring Curt Goetz in the leading role, in Berlin. Subsequently, Piel directed and produced several sensationalist and adventure movies for a number of production companies. Piel became known as the "dynamite director" for frequently incorporating exploding buildings and bridges into his movies. In 1915, Pile made his first science fiction movie, "Die große Wette", a film on the subject of man-machines. In "Unter heißer Zone", Piel used scenes with wild animals for the first time.

During 1918 and 1919, Piel directed eight films of the Joe Deebs, private investigator, series. Then, in "Der große Unbekannte", adventurer "Harry Peel" became the star of his own movie series. Piel, who as an actor officially never used a stunt double, then became an internationally known movie star. In 1927, Piel starred in a double role alongside Marlene Dietrich in "Sein größter Bluff" ("His Greatest Bluff"). Effortlessly, Pile changed to the sound film format in 1930 in the doppelganger comedy "Er oder ich"( "He or I").

During the Nazi regime, Piel appeared in utopian films such as "Ein Unsichtbarer geht durch die Stadt" but also in the popular operetta movie "Schwarzwaldmädel" as well as in numerous innocuous animal and circus films like "Artisten" (Piel"s 100th film), "Der Dschungel ruft" ("The Call of the Jungle"), and "Menschen, Tiere, Sensationen". The nationalistic animal catcher movie "Panik" ("Panic", 1940-43) was forbidden by the authorities because of its too realistic display of air strikes.

After the end of the war, Piel was temporarily arrested as a "Nazi follower" and was banned from employment for five years. In 1950, Piel rebuild Ariel-Film but the production company"s films "Der Tiger Akbar" ("The Tiger"s Claw") and "Gesprengte Gitter" ("Elephant Fury", based on "Panik") lost touch with German post-war cinema. Eventually, Piel gave up Ariel-film in 1960 and withdrew from the movie business.