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{{short description|Film director and producer}}
{{Short description|American film director (1912–1991)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Donald Siegel
| name = Donald Siegel
| image = DonSiegel.jpg
| image = DonSiegel.jpg
| caption = Siegel while directing ''[[Coogan's Bluff (film)|Coogan's Bluff]]'' in 1968
| caption = Siegel in 1968
| birth_date = {{birth date|1912|10|26}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1912|10|26}}
| birth_place = [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S.
| birth_place = [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1991|4|20|1912|10|26|mf=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1991|04|20|1912|10|26|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Nipomo]], California, U.S.
| death_place = [[Nipomo]], California, U.S.
| occupation = Film and television director and producer
| occupation = Film director, producer
| years active = 1939−1984
| networth =
| networth =
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Viveca Lindfors]]|1948|1953|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|[[Doe Avedon]]|1957|1975|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|Carol Rydall<br>|1981}}
| spouse = {{plainlist|
| children = 5, including [[Kristoffer Tabori]]
* {{marriage|[[Viveca Lindfors]]|1948|1953|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Doe Avedon]]|1957|1975|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Carol Rydall<br>|1981}}
}}
}}
| children = 5, including [[Kristoffer Tabori]]
}}
'''Donald Siegel''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|g|əl}} {{respell|SEE|gəl}}; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film director and producer.


Siegel was described by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut plots centered on individualistic loners".<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/24/obituaries/don-siegel-whose-movies-herald-tough-cynical-loners-dies-at-78.html | title= Don Siegel, Whose Movies Herald Tough, Cynical Loners, Dies at 78 | work=[[The New York Times]] | first=Peter B. | last=Flint | date=24 April 1991 | access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> He directed the [[Science fiction film|science-fiction]] horror film ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' (1956), as well as five films with [[Clint Eastwood]], including the police thriller ''[[Dirty Harry]]'' (1971) and the prison drama ''[[Escape from Alcatraz (film)|Escape from Alcatraz]]'' (1979). He also directed [[John Wayne]]'s final film, the Western ''[[The Shootist]]'' (1976).
'''Donald Siegel''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|g|əl}}; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer.


==Early life==
Siegel was described by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut plots centered on individualistic loners".<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/24/obituaries/don-siegel-whose-movies-herald-tough-cynical-loners-dies-at-78.html | title= Don Siegel, Whose Movies Herald Tough, Cynical Loners, Dies at 78 | work=[[The New York Times]] | first=Peter B. | last=Flint | date=24 April 1991 | access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> He directed the [[Science fiction film|science fiction]] horror film ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' (1956), as well as five films with [[Clint Eastwood]], including the police thriller ''[[Dirty Harry]]'' (1971) and the prison drama ''[[Escape from Alcatraz (film)|Escape from Alcatraz]]'' (1979). He also directed [[John Wayne]]'s final film, the Western ''[[The Shootist]]'' (1976).
Siegel was born in 1912 to a Jewish family<ref>{{cite book |last=Erens |first=Patricia |title= [[The Jew in American Cinema]] |isbn=978-0-253-20493-6 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |date=August 1988|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-v2Di_5ShGMC&q=don%20siegel&pg=PA392 392]}}</ref> in Chicago; his father was [[Samuel Siegel]], a mandolin player.<ref>{{cite web |title=Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1949 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKDZ-9NL2 |website=FamilySearch |publisher=Donald Siegel, 26 Oct 1912. |access-date=6 January 2024}}</ref> Siegel attended schools in New York and later graduated from [[Jesus College, Cambridge]] in England. For a short time, he studied at [[Beaux-Arts de Paris|Beaux Arts in Paris]], but left at age 20 and later went to Los Angeles.<ref name="Munn75">Munn, p. 75</ref>

==Early life and education==
Siegel was born in 1912 to a [[American Jews|Jewish]] family<ref>{{cite book |last=Erens |first=Patricia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-v2Di_5ShGMC&q=don%20siegel&pg=PA392 |title= The Jew in American Cinema |isbn=978-0-253-20493-6 |publisher=Indiana University Press |date=August 1988}}</ref> in Chicago; his father was a mandolin player. Siegel attended schools in New York and later graduated from [[Jesus College, Cambridge]] in England.<ref name="Munn75">Munn, p. 75</ref> For a short time he studied at Beaux Arts in Paris, but left at age 20 and later went to Los Angeles.<ref name="Munn75"/>


==Career==
==Career==
Siegel found work in the [[Warner Bros.]] film library after meeting producer [[Hal Wallis]],<ref name="Munn75"/> and later rose to head of the Montage Department, where he directed thousands of [[montage sequence|montages]], including the opening montage for ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]''. In 1945, two shorts he directed, ''[[Star in the Night]]'' and ''[[Hitler Lives]]'', won [[Academy Award]]s, which launched his career as a feature director.
Siegel found work in the [[Warner Bros.]] film library after meeting producer [[Hal Wallis]],<ref name="Munn75"/> and later rose to head of the montage department, where he directed thousands of [[montage sequence|montages]], including the opening montage for ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]''. In 1945, two shorts he directed, ''[[Star in the Night]]'' and ''[[Hitler Lives]]'', won [[Academy Award]]s, 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 made the original ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' (1956), described by ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2014 as a "fatalistic masterpiece" and "a touchstone for the sci-fi genre" which spawned three remakes.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/27/invasion-of-the-bodysnatchers-1956 | title= Invasion Of The Body Snatchers: Don Siegel's fatalistic masterpiece | work=[[The Guardian]] | first=John | last=Patterson | date=27 October 2014 | access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> For television, he directed two episodes of ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'', "[[Uncle Simon]]" (1963) and "[[The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross]]" (1964), and was the producer of ''[[The Legend of Jesse James (TV series)|The Legend of Jesse James]]'' (1965).<ref>{{cite book | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TrIspiOaqboC&q=don+siegel+legend+of+jesse+james&pg=PA75 | title= Television Westerns: Six Decades of Sagebrush Sheriffs, Scalawags, and Sidewinders | author= Alvin H. Marill | date= June 2011 | isbn= 9780810881334 | access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> He worked with [[Eli Wallach]] in ''[[The Lineup (film)|The Lineup]]'', [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Dolores del Río]] in ''[[Flaming Star]]'' (1960), with [[Steve McQueen (actor)|Steve McQueen]] in ''[[Hell Is for Heroes (film)|Hell Is for Heroes]]'' and [[Lee Marvin]] in the influential ''[[The Killers (1964 film)|The Killers]]'' (1964) before directing a series of five films with [[Clint Eastwood]] that were commercially successful in addition to being well received by critics. These included the action films ''[[Coogan's Bluff (film)|Coogan's Bluff]]'' and ''[[Dirty Harry]]'', the [[Albert Maltz]]-scripted Western ''[[Two Mules for Sister Sara]]'', the [[American Civil War]] melodrama ''[[The Beguiled (1971 film)|The Beguiled]]'', and the prison-break picture ''[[Escape from Alcatraz (film)|Escape from Alcatraz]]''. He was a considerable influence on Eastwood's own career as a director, and Eastwood's film ''[[Unforgiven]]'' is dedicated "for Don and [[Sergio Leone|Sergio]]".


Siegel directed whatever material came his way, often transcending the limitations of budget and script to produce interesting and adept works. He made the original ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' (1956), described by ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2014 as a "fatalistic masterpiece" and "a touchstone for the sci-fi genre" which spawned three remakes.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/27/invasion-of-the-bodysnatchers-1956 | title= Invasion Of The Body Snatchers: Don Siegel's fatalistic masterpiece | work=[[The Guardian]] | first=John | last=Patterson | date=27 October 2014 | access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> For television, he directed two episodes of ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'', "[[Uncle Simon]]" (1963) and "[[The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross]]" (1964), and was the producer of ''[[The Legend of Jesse James (TV series)|The Legend of Jesse James]]'' (1965).<ref>{{cite book | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TrIspiOaqboC&q=don+siegel+legend+of+jesse+james&pg=PA75 | title= Television Westerns: Six Decades of Sagebrush Sheriffs, Scalawags, and Sidewinders | author= Alvin H. Marill | date= June 2011 | publisher= Scarecrow Press | isbn= 9780810881334 | access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> He worked with [[Eli Wallach]] in ''[[The Lineup (film)|The Lineup]]'', [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Dolores del Río]] in ''[[Flaming Star]]'' (1960), with [[Steve McQueen (actor)|Steve McQueen]] in ''[[Hell Is for Heroes (film)|Hell Is for Heroes]]'', and [[Lee Marvin]] in the influential ''[[The Killers (1964 film)|The Killers]]'' (1964) before directing five of Eastwood's films that were commercially successful in addition to being well received by critics. These included the action films ''[[Coogan's Bluff (film)|Coogan's Bluff]]'' and ''[[Dirty Harry]]'', the [[Albert Maltz]]-scripted Western ''[[Two Mules for Sister Sara]]'', the [[American Civil War]] melodrama ''[[The Beguiled (1971 film)|The Beguiled]]'', and the prison-break picture ''[[Escape from Alcatraz (film)|Escape from Alcatraz]]''. He was a considerable influence on Eastwood's own career as a director, and Eastwood's film ''[[Unforgiven]]'' is dedicated "for Don and [[Sergio Leone|Sergio]]".
He had a long collaboration with composer [[Lalo Schifrin]], who scored five of his films: ''Coogan's Bluff'', ''The Beguiled'', ''Dirty Harry'', ''[[Charley Varrick]]'' and ''[[Telefon (film)|Telefon]]''.


Schifrin composed and recorded what would have been his sixth score for Siegel on ''[[Jinxed!]]'' (1982), but it was rejected by the studio despite Siegel's objections. This was one of several fights Siegel had on this, his last film.<ref>''Reported by the [[Los Angeles Times]] in 1982.''</ref>
Siegel had a long collaboration with composer [[Lalo Schifrin]], who scored five of his films: ''Coogan's Bluff'', ''The Beguiled'', ''Dirty Harry'', ''[[Charley Varrick]]'', and ''[[Telefon (film)|Telefon]]''. Schifrin composed and recorded what would have been his sixth score for Siegel on ''[[Jinxed!]]'' (1982), but it was rejected by the studio despite Siegel's objections. This conflict was one of several fights Siegel had on his last film.<ref>''Reported by the [[Los Angeles Times]] in 1982.''</ref>


Siegel was also important to the career of director [[Sam Peckinpah]]. In 1954, Peckinpah was hired as a dialogue coach for ''[[Riot in Cell Block 11]]''. His job entailed acting as an assistant to the director, Siegel. The film was shot on location at [[Folsom Prison]]. Siegel's location work and his use of actual prisoners as extras in the film made a lasting impression on Peckinpah. He worked as a dialogue coach on four additional Siegel films: ''[[Private Hell 36]]'' (1954), ''[[An Annapolis Story]]'' (1955), ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' (1956) and ''[[Crime in the Streets]]'' (1956).<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Weddle|author-link= David Weddle| title=If They Move...Kill 'Em!| publisher=Grove Press |year = 1994|pages=116–119 | isbn= 0-8021-3776-8}}</ref> 25 years later, Peckinpah was all but banished from the industry due to his troubled film productions. Siegel gave the director a chance to return to filmmaking. He asked Peckinpah if he would be interested in directing 12 days of [[second unit]] work on ''[[Jinxed!]]''. Peckinpah immediately accepted, and his earnest collaboration with his longtime friend was noted within the industry. While Peckinpah's work was uncredited, it would lead to his hiring as the director of his final film ''[[The Osterman Weekend (film)|The Osterman Weekend]]'' (1983).<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Weddle|author-link= David Weddle| title=If They Move...Kill 'Em!| publisher=Grove Press |year = 1994|pages=534–535 | isbn= 0-8021-3776-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=''Jinxed!'' |work=imdb.com |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084173/trivia |access-date=March 6, 2012}}</ref>
Siegel was also important to the career of director [[Sam Peckinpah]]. In 1954, Peckinpah was hired as a dialogue coach for ''[[Riot in Cell Block 11]]''. His job entailed acting as an assistant to the director, Siegel. The film was shot on location at [[Folsom Prison]]. Siegel's location work and his use of actual prisoners as extras in the film made a lasting impression on Peckinpah. He worked as a dialogue coach on four additional Siegel films: ''[[Private Hell 36]]'' (1954), ''[[An Annapolis Story]]'' (1955), ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1956), and ''[[Crime in the Streets]]'' (1956).<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Weddle|author-link= David Weddle| title=If They Move...Kill 'Em!| publisher=Grove Press |year = 1994|pages=116–119 | isbn= 0-8021-3776-8}}</ref> Twenty-five years later, Peckinpah was all but banished from the industry due to his troubled film productions. Siegel gave the director a chance to return to filmmaking. He asked Peckinpah if he would be interested in directing 12 days of [[second unit]] on Siegel's ''Jinxed!'' film. Peckinpah immediately accepted, and his earnest collaboration with his longtime friend was noted within the industry. While Peckinpah's work was uncredited, it led to his hiring as the director of his final film ''[[The Osterman Weekend (film)|The Osterman Weekend]]'' (1983).<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Weddle|author-link= David Weddle| title=If They Move...Kill 'Em!| publisher=Grove Press |year = 1994|pages=534–535 | isbn= 0-8021-3776-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=''Jinxed!'' |work=imdb.com |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084173/trivia |access-date=March 6, 2012}}</ref>


==Cameos==
==Cameos==
He has a [[cameo role]] as a bartender in Eastwood's ''[[Play Misty for Me]]'', as well as in ''Dirty Harry''. In [[Philip Kaufman]]'s 1978 ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)|Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'', a remake of Siegel's own 1956 film, he appears as a taxi driver. In ''[[Charley Varrick]]'' starring [[Walter Matthau]] (a film slated for Eastwood but ultimately turned down by the actor), he has a cameo as a ping-pong player. He also appears in the 1985 John Landis film ''[[Into the Night (1985 film)|Into the Night]]''.
Siegel had a small role as a bartender in Eastwood's ''[[Play Misty for Me]]'', and in ''Dirty Harry''. In [[Philip Kaufman]]'s 1978 ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)|Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'', a remake of Siegel's 1956 film, he appears as a taxi driver. In ''Charley Varrick'' starring [[Walter Matthau]] (a film slated for Eastwood, but ultimately turned down by the actor), he has a cameo as a ping-pong player. He also appears in the 1985 John Landis film ''[[Into the Night (1985 film)|Into the Night]].'' Siegel also has a small role in ''[[The Killers (1964 film)|The Killers]].''


==Personal life and death==
==Personal life and death==
From 1948 to 1953, he was married to actress [[Viveca Lindfors]], with whom he had a son, [[Kristoffer Tabori]]. He married [[Doe Avedon]] in 1957. They adopted four children; they divorced in 1975. He married Carol Rydall, former secretary to [[Clint Eastwood]]. They remained together until he died at the age of 78 from cancer in [[Nipomo]], California. He is buried near Highway 1 in the coastal Cayucos-Morro Bay District Cemetery. Siegel was an [[atheist]].<ref>David Robinson, 'Don Siegel's stories', ''The Times'', 1 May 1975; pg. 11; Issue 59384; col E.</ref>
Siegel and actress [[Viveca Lindfors]] were married from 1948 to 1953. They had a son, [[Kristoffer Tabori]]. Siegel married [[Doe Avedon]] in 1957. They adopted four children and then divorced in 1975.
Siegel married Carol Rydall, a former secretary to Clint Eastwood. Siegel and Rydall remained together until he died at age 78 from cancer in Nipomo, California. Siegel is buried near Highway 1 in the coastal Cayucos-Morro Bay District Cemetery. He was an atheist.<ref>David Robinson, 'Don Siegel's stories', ''The Times'', 1 May 1975; pg. 11; Issue 59384; col E.</ref>


== Filmography ==
== Filmography ==
{{Div col}}
{{Div col}}
*''[[Now, Voyager]]'' (1942) (montage by)
*''[[Across the Pacific]]'' (1942) (montage director)
*''[[Across the Pacific]]'' (1942) (montage director)
*''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' (1942) (montage director)
*''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' (1942) (montage director)
Line 51: Line 56:
*''[[The Big Steal]]'' (1949)
*''[[The Big Steal]]'' (1949)
*''[[The Duel at Silver Creek]]'' (1952)
*''[[The Duel at Silver Creek]]'' (1952)
*''[[No Time for Flowers]]'' (1952)
*''[[Count the Hours]]'' (1953)
*''[[Count the Hours]]'' (1953)
*''[[China Venture]]'' (1953)
*''[[China Venture]]'' (1953)
Line 59: Line 65:
*''[[Crime in the Streets]]'' (1956)
*''[[Crime in the Streets]]'' (1956)
*''[[Baby Face Nelson (film)|Baby Face Nelson]]'' (1957)
*''[[Baby Face Nelson (film)|Baby Face Nelson]]'' (1957)
*''[[Spanish Affair]]'' (1957)
*''[[Spanish Affair (1957 film)|Spanish Affair]]'' (1957)
*''[[The Gun Runners]]'' (1958)
*''[[The Gun Runners]]'' (1958)
*''[[The Lineup (film)|The Lineup]]'' (1958)
*''[[The Lineup (film)|The Lineup]]'' (1958)
Line 71: Line 77:
*''[[Coogan's Bluff (film)|Coogan's Bluff]]'' (1968)
*''[[Coogan's Bluff (film)|Coogan's Bluff]]'' (1968)
*''[[Madigan]]'' (1968)
*''[[Madigan]]'' (1968)
*''[[Death of a Gunfighter]]'' (1969)
*''[[Death of a Gunfighter]]'' (credited as [[Alan Smithee]]) (1969)
*''[[Two Mules for Sister Sara]]'' (1970)
*''[[Two Mules for Sister Sara]]'' (1970)
*''[[The Beguiled (1971 film)|The Beguiled]]'' (1971)
*''[[The Beguiled (1971 film)|The Beguiled]]'' (1971)
Line 87: Line 93:
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


===Sources===
==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Munn|first=Michael|title=Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner|publisher=Robson Books|location=London|year=1992|isbn=0-86051-790-X}}
*{{cite book|last=Munn|first=Michael|title=Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner|publisher=Robson Books|location=London|year=1992|isbn=0-86051-790-X}}


Line 104: Line 110:
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Action film directors]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:American action film directors]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:American film directors]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:American television directors]]
[[Category:American television directors]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Chicago]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Chicago]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Film directors from Illinois]]
[[Category:Film producers from Illinois]]
[[Category:Film producers from Illinois]]
[[Category:Jewish atheists]]
[[Category:Jewish American atheists]]
[[Category:Jewish film people]]
[[Category:Western (genre) film directors]]
[[Category:Western (genre) film directors]]

Latest revision as of 14:46, 10 September 2024

Donald Siegel
Siegel in 1968
Born(1912-10-26)October 26, 1912
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedApril 20, 1991(1991-04-20) (aged 78)
Nipomo, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Film director, producer
Years active1939−1984
Spouses
(m. 1948; div. 1953)
(m. 1957; div. 1975)
Carol Rydall
(m. 1981)
Children5, including Kristoffer Tabori

Donald Siegel (/ˈsɡəl/ SEE-gəl; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film director and producer.

Siegel was described by The New York Times as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut plots centered on individualistic loners".[1] He directed the science-fiction horror film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), as well as five films with Clint Eastwood, including the police thriller Dirty Harry (1971) and the prison drama Escape from Alcatraz (1979). He also directed John Wayne's final film, the Western The Shootist (1976).

Early life

[edit]

Siegel was born in 1912 to a Jewish family[2] in Chicago; his father was Samuel Siegel, a mandolin player.[3] Siegel attended schools in New York and later graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge in England. For a short time, he studied at Beaux Arts in Paris, but left at age 20 and later went to Los Angeles.[4]

Career

[edit]

Siegel found work in the Warner Bros. film library after meeting producer Hal Wallis,[4] and later rose to head of the montage department, where he directed thousands of montages, including the opening montage for Casablanca. In 1945, two shorts he directed, Star in the Night and Hitler Lives, won Academy Awards, which launched his career as a feature director.

Siegel directed whatever material came his way, often transcending the limitations of budget and script to produce interesting and adept works. He made the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), described by The Guardian in 2014 as a "fatalistic masterpiece" and "a touchstone for the sci-fi genre" which spawned three remakes.[5] For television, he directed two episodes of The Twilight Zone, "Uncle Simon" (1963) and "The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross" (1964), and was the producer of The Legend of Jesse James (1965).[6] He worked with Eli Wallach in The Lineup, Elvis Presley and Dolores del Río in Flaming Star (1960), with Steve McQueen in Hell Is for Heroes, and Lee Marvin in the influential The Killers (1964) before directing five of Eastwood's films that were commercially successful in addition to being well received by critics. These included the action films Coogan's Bluff and Dirty Harry, the Albert Maltz-scripted Western Two Mules for Sister Sara, the American Civil War melodrama The Beguiled, and the prison-break picture Escape from Alcatraz. He was a considerable influence on Eastwood's own career as a director, and Eastwood's film Unforgiven is dedicated "for Don and Sergio".

Siegel had a long collaboration with composer Lalo Schifrin, who scored five of his films: Coogan's Bluff, The Beguiled, Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick, and Telefon. Schifrin composed and recorded what would have been his sixth score for Siegel on Jinxed! (1982), but it was rejected by the studio despite Siegel's objections. This conflict was one of several fights Siegel had on his last film.[7]

Siegel was also important to the career of director Sam Peckinpah. In 1954, Peckinpah was hired as a dialogue coach for Riot in Cell Block 11. His job entailed acting as an assistant to the director, Siegel. The film was shot on location at Folsom Prison. Siegel's location work and his use of actual prisoners as extras in the film made a lasting impression on Peckinpah. He worked as a dialogue coach on four additional Siegel films: Private Hell 36 (1954), An Annapolis Story (1955), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and Crime in the Streets (1956).[8] Twenty-five years later, Peckinpah was all but banished from the industry due to his troubled film productions. Siegel gave the director a chance to return to filmmaking. He asked Peckinpah if he would be interested in directing 12 days of second unit on Siegel's Jinxed! film. Peckinpah immediately accepted, and his earnest collaboration with his longtime friend was noted within the industry. While Peckinpah's work was uncredited, it led to his hiring as the director of his final film The Osterman Weekend (1983).[9][10]

Cameos

[edit]

Siegel had a small role as a bartender in Eastwood's Play Misty for Me, and in Dirty Harry. In Philip Kaufman's 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a remake of Siegel's 1956 film, he appears as a taxi driver. In Charley Varrick starring Walter Matthau (a film slated for Eastwood, but ultimately turned down by the actor), he has a cameo as a ping-pong player. He also appears in the 1985 John Landis film Into the Night. Siegel also has a small role in The Killers.

Personal life and death

[edit]

Siegel and actress Viveca Lindfors were married from 1948 to 1953. They had a son, Kristoffer Tabori. Siegel married Doe Avedon in 1957. They adopted four children and then divorced in 1975.

Siegel married Carol Rydall, a former secretary to Clint Eastwood. Siegel and Rydall remained together until he died at age 78 from cancer in Nipomo, California. Siegel is buried near Highway 1 in the coastal Cayucos-Morro Bay District Cemetery. He was an atheist.[11]

Filmography

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Flint, Peter B. (April 24, 1991). "Don Siegel, Whose Movies Herald Tough, Cynical Loners, Dies at 78". The New York Times. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  2. ^ Erens, Patricia (August 1988). The Jew in American Cinema. Indiana University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-253-20493-6.
  3. ^ "Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1949". FamilySearch. Donald Siegel, 26 Oct 1912. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Munn, p. 75
  5. ^ Patterson, John (October 27, 2014). "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers: Don Siegel's fatalistic masterpiece". The Guardian. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  6. ^ Alvin H. Marill (June 2011). Television Westerns: Six Decades of Sagebrush Sheriffs, Scalawags, and Sidewinders. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810881334. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  7. ^ Reported by the Los Angeles Times in 1982.
  8. ^ Weddle, David (1994). If They Move...Kill 'Em!. Grove Press. pp. 116–119. ISBN 0-8021-3776-8.
  9. ^ Weddle, David (1994). If They Move...Kill 'Em!. Grove Press. pp. 534–535. ISBN 0-8021-3776-8.
  10. ^ "Jinxed!". imdb.com. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  11. ^ David Robinson, 'Don Siegel's stories', The Times, 1 May 1975; pg. 11; Issue 59384; col E.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Munn, Michael (1992). Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner. London: Robson Books. ISBN 0-86051-790-X.
[edit]