Biography
This page uses content from the Don Siegel biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Don Siegel (October 26, 1912 - April 20, 1991) was an influential American film director.
Born in Chicago. He graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge and found work in Warner Bros. film library, rising to become head of the Montage Department. In 1945 two shorts he directed, Hitler Lives? and A Star in the Night, won Academy Awards, which launched his career as a feature director.
He directed whatever material came his way, often transcending the limitations of budget and script to produce interesting and adept works. He worked well with Steve McQueen in Hell Is for Heroes and Lee Marvin in the influential The Killers (1964) before a series of films with Clint Eastwood that were successful on both an artistic and commercial level. He was a considerable influence on Eastwood's own career as a director, and Eastwood's film Unforgiven is dedicated to Siegel and Sergio Leone.
He has a cameo role as a bartender in Eastwood's Play Misty For Me, and, as the director of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, appears as a "pod" taxi driver in Philip Kaufman's remake.
He was briefly married to the actress Viveca Lindfors, with whom he had a son, Kristoffer Tabori.
He died at the age of 78 from cancer in Los Angeles, survived by his son.
Filmography
- The Verdict (1946)
- Night Unto Night (1947)
- The Big Steal (1949)
- Duel at Silver Creek (1952)
- Count the Hours (1953)
- China Venture (1953)
- Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
- Private Hell 36 (1954)
- The Blue and Gold (1955)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
- Crime in the Streets (1956)
- Baby Face Nelson (1957)
- Spanish Affair (1957)
- The Gun Runners (1958)
- The Lineup (1958)
- Hound Dog Man (1959)
- Edge of Eternity (1959)
- Flaming Star (1960)
- Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
- The Killers (1964)
- The Hanged Man (1964)
- Stranger on the Run (1967)
- Coogan's Bluff (1968)
- Madigan (1968)
- Two Mules for Sister Sara (1969)
- The Beguiled (1970)
- Dirty Harry (1971)
- Charley Varrick (1972)
- The Black Windmill (1974)
- The Shootist (1976)
- Telefon (1977)
- Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
- Rough Cut (1980)
- Jinxed (1981)
External links
- Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
- An Academy Salute to Don Siegel, With Curtis Hanson and Clint Eastwood
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

