Sam Peckinpah

David Samuel Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 - December 28, 1984) was an American film director, known as Sam Peckinpah, famous for his films with extremely bloody climaxes.

Career

He worked initially as a scriptwriter and director of Western genre television series such as Gunsmoke and The Rifleman. In the early 1960s he moved into film and earned a reputation in Hollywood as an enfant terrible of the cinematic world. His feature films were criticised as being overly violent, but he defended his work as anti-violence commentary.

Related Topics:
Western genre - Gunsmoke - The Rifleman - 1960s - Hollywood - Enfant terrible

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His films were visually inventive, having a style of film-making that was unconventional for the time period. He was a pioneer in the use of slow-motion, and rapid-fire edits.

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Peckinpah's critics panned the filmmaker's use of blood and gore, and how often violence was cast as a redeeming action, bringing closure to its perpetrators and a brand of rough justice to its victims. This, however, was not always the case. Where film critics of this era were conditioned to expect movies with heroes, Peckinpah's films were often peopled with only victims and villains.

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Peckinpah drank and abused drugs, girlfriends and producers. During the filming of The Killer Elite (1975) Peckinpah allegedly discovered cocaine. This led to increased paranoia and his slow psychological breakdown. At one point he overdosed, landing himself in a hospital and receiving a second pacemaker. He died in Inglewood, California from heart failure at the age of 59.

Related Topics:
Drank - Abused drugs - Girlfriends - Producers - 1975 - Cocaine - Paranoia - Psychological breakdown - Overdose - Pacemaker - Inglewood, California - Heart failure

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He is generally regarded as one of the most original filmmakers of Hollywood's second golden age.

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