Sam Peckinpah

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Birth Name: David Edward Samuel Ernest Peckinpah Jr.

Born: 21 February 1925 Died: 28 December 1984

Country of origin: United States

Height: 5' 9"

Relationship Status: Married

Partner: Begoña Palacios

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Description: David Samuel Peckinpah was born and grew up in Fresno, California, when it was still a sleepy town. Young Sam was a loner. The child's greatest influence was grandfather Denver Church, a judge, congressman and one of the best shots in the Sierra Nevadas. Sam served in the Marine Corps during World War II but - to his disappointment - did not see combat. Upon returning to the States, he enrolled in Fresno State College, graduating in 1948 with a B.A. in Drama. Having married Marie Selland in Las Vegas in 1947, they moved to Los Angeles where he enrolled in the graduate Theater Department of the University of Southern California t David Samuel Peckinpah was born and grew up in Fresno, California, when it was still a sleepy town. Young Sam was a loner. The child's greatest influence was grandfather Denver Church, a judge, congressman and one of the best shots in the Sierra Nevadas. Sam served in the Marine Corps during World War II but - to his disappointment - did not see combat. Upon returning to the States, he enrolled in Fresno State College, graduating in 1948 with a B.A. in Drama. Having married Marie Selland in Las Vegas in 1947, they moved to Los Angeles where he enrolled in the graduate Theater Department of the University of Southern California the next year, eventually took his Masters in 1952.

After drifting through several jobs -- including a stint as a floor-sweeper on "The Liberace Show" (1952) -- he got a job as Dialogue Director on 'Riot in Cell Block 11' with director Don Siegel. He continued to work for Siegel on several other films including (Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) -- in which Sam played Charlie Buckholtz, the town meter reader. Peckinpah eventually became a scriptwriter for such TV programs as "Gunsmoke" (1955) and _"The Rifleman" (which he created as an episode of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater titled 'The Sharpshooter' 1958). It was also for Dick Powell that he created the critically acclaimed western series "The Westerner" (1960).

In 1961, as his marriage to Selland was coming to an end, he directed his first feature film, a western titled The Deadly Companions (1961) starring Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara. However, with his second feature Ride the High Country (1962) Peckinpah really began to establish his reputation. Featuring Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott (in his final screen performance), it told the story of two aging gunfighters in a tale that anticipated several of the themes Peckinpah would explore in future films including the controversial The Wild Bunch (1969). Following 'Ride the High Country' he was hired by producer Jerry Bresler to direct the Cavalry Western Major Dundee (1965), starring Charleton Heston, a film that brought to light Peckinpah's volatile reputation. During hot, on-location work in Mexico, Peckinpah's abrasive manner, exacerbated by booze and marijuana, provoked usually even-keeled Charlton Heston to threaten to run him through with a cavalry saber. At the same time, when the studio considered replacing Peckinpah, it was Heston who came to Sam's defense going so far as to offer to return his salary to help off-set any overages. Ironically, the studio accepted and Heston wound up doing the film for free. Post-production conflicts led to a bitter and ultimately losing battle with Jerry Bresler, and Columbia Pictures over the final cut and, as a result, the disjointed effort fizzled at the box office. It was during this period that Peckinpah met and married his second wife, the Mexican actress Begonia Palacios. However, the reputation he earned on 'Major Dundee' contributed to Peckinpah being replaced on his next film The Cincinnati Kid (1965) with Steve McQueen by director Norman Jewison.

His second marriage now failing, Peckinpah did not begin his next feature project for two years. However, he did direct a powerful adaptation of Katherine Anne Porter's 'Noon Wine" for ABC Television. This, in turn, helped relaunch his feature career as he was hired by Warner Bros. to direct the film for which he is, justifiably, best remembered. The success of The Wild Bunch (1969) rejuvenated his career and propelled him through highs and lows in the 1970s. Between 1970-1978 he directed 'The Ballad of Cable Hogue,' 'The Straw Dogs,' 'Junior Bonner,' 'The Getaway,' 'Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,' 'Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia,' 'The Killer Elite,' 'Cross of Iron,' and 'Convoy.' Throughout this period, controversy followed him. He provoked more rancor over his use of violence in Straw Dogs (1971), introduced Ali MacGraw to Steve McQueen in The Getaway (1972), fought with MGM's James T. Aubrey over his vision for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) that included the casting of Bob Dylan in an unscripted role as a character called 'Alias." His last solid effort was the Eastern Front WW II anti-war epic Cross of Iron (1977) (Maximilian Schell, James Coburn), bringing the picture in successfully despite severe financial problems.

Peckinpah lived life to its fullest. He drank hard and abused drugs, producers and collaborators. At the end of his life, he was considering a number of projects including the Stephen King-scripted "The Shotgunners". He was returning from Mexico in December 1984 when he died from heart failure in a hospital in Inglewood, California at age 59. At a standing room only gathering that held at the Director's Guild the following month, Coburn remembered the director as a man "who pushed me over the abyss and then jumped in after me. He took me on some great adventures". To which actor Robert Culp added that what is surprising is not that Sam only made fourteen pictures, but that given the way he went about it, he managed to make any at all. ... (more)