Sam Peckinpah Biography

SAM PECKINPAH BIOGRAPHY

Died: 28 December 1984 (aged 59)
Filmography: Complete List

If any director of the twentieth century defined the term 'a man's man' then it was undoubtedly Sam Peckinpah. A hard-living, straight-talking maverick, Peckinpah resolutely refused to bow to the pressures of the Hollywood system, instead preferring to follow his own instincts in making films that were characterised by violence and rugged male values - themes that would consistently land him in trouble with both his producers and critics. And while not every film he made may have lasted the test of time, his golden period of the late 60s and early 70s saw a remarkable series of popular and commercially successful films that are now regarded as landmarks.

Peckinpah's style was informed by his background. Born in California in 1925, his forefathers were settlers of the new West with a tradition of working in the law. A troubled youth with an aggressive streak, Peckinpah enrolled in the army towards the end of the Second World War but was disappointed never to see active service. He settled down somewhat in 1947 when he married Marie Selland, a drama student who awakened his interest in the arts.

For the next few years Peckinpah climbed the entertainment ladder in an orthodox way, working variously as a stagehand and technician on plays and television programmes. His big break came when he met Don Siegel (himself a notorious tough guy and later Clint Eastwood's mentor) in the mid 50s. Impressed by the raw talent he found, Siegel encouraged Peckinpah to turn his hand to writing and directing (and even offered him a walk-on role in his classic 1956 film Invasion of the Bodysnatchers).

Buoyed by the situation he found himself in, it wasn't long before Peckinpah was given the chance to direct and he made his mark with his second film. Ride the High Country in 1962 made critics and the studios sit up and take notice. Its familiar theme of transporting treasure through dangerous country was given an elegiac feel by Peckinpah, who also wrote the screenplay. Its modest success allowed him to make the western Major Dundee in 1965, and with a big budget, a fiery star (Charlton Heston) and a Mexican location in tow, it wasn't long before rumours of Peckinpah's wild behaviour began to surface, with Heston threatening to fire him repeatedly from the set.