Sam Peckinpah

American film director and screenwriter who was noted for his creative slow-motion vision of violence and killing the old fashioned Western.

Raised on a ranch on Peckinpah Mountain in the Sierras east of Fresno, Sam's dad was a judge and his mom a Christian Scientist from a family with money. He had one brother, Denver. Growing up under the strict discipline of military school, after graduation he joined the Marines during World War II with a tour of duty in China.

When he returned he enrolled in the University of Southern California, graduating with a master's degree in drama. He got a job sweeping floors in a Los Angeles TV station in 1953 and was fired because he wouldn't wear a suit. Hired as fourth assistant casting director by Allied Artists, he moved up to dialogue director then played a bit role in the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." After being asked to write episodes for TV's "Gunsmoke," "Tales of Wells Fargo" and other Westerns, he began writing and directing his own TV series, "The Rifleman," in 1959.

Peckinpah's first film, "The Deadly Companions," was in 1961. A creative man, his films were known not only for their technique of showing gritty, realistic violence in slow motion but also for the psychological motivations behind the actions. His "Ride the High Country" won awards from Brussels, Paris and Mexico. "The Wild Bunch" was released in 1969 and although he was called brilliant, the film earned him the title of Picasso of Violence. In December 1971 "Straw Dogs" was released.

A genius and a perfectionist, Sam would spend 24 hours a day in the cutting room getting editing just right if the union would allow it. He hated stupidity and wanted to control everything from direction to cutting of his films. In later years he was blacklisted as a difficult man, a drinker and a fighter, but was nonetheless given the chance to direct "Noon Wine" for TV, airing on 23 November 1966. His reputation as a genius was reinforced.