Began his career as an assistant on numerous Italian productions of the late 1940s and early 50s and came to prominence in the 1960s, when he revitalized the western genre with a series of gritty, semi-satirical homages known as "spaghetti westerns." "The cowboy picture has got lost in psychology," he said; "The West was made by violent uncomplicated men, and it is this strength and simplicity that I try to recapture in my pictures."
Leone's gun-and-sun operas, with their spasmodic violence, striking and insistent use of closeups (often immediately following panoramic establishing shots) and motif-laden Ennio Morricone scores, provided employment for a number of American actors, most notably Lee Van Cleef and Clint Eastwood, who starred as the laconic anti-hero of "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964), "For a Few Dollars More" (1966) and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1966). Leone's last major project was "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984), a bloody tribute to the American gangster film. Though praised at the Cannes Film Festival and across Europe, it was severely cut for US release to an extent which made it almost incomprehensible. Father Vincenzo Leone was a noted silent film director.
- Also Credited As:
Bob Robertson
- Born:
January 3, 1921 in Rome, Italy
- Died:
April 30, 1989.
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Job Titles:
Director, Screenwriter, Actor, Assistant director, Second unit director
Family
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Daughter: Andrea Leone.
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Daughter: Francesca Leone.
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Daughter: Raffaela Leone.
Milestones
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1947 Worked as an assistant to Italian and American filmmakers (Mervyn LeRoy, Raoul Walsh, William Wyler) in Italy
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1948 Acted in Vittorio De Sica's landmark classic of neorealism, "The Bicycle Thief"
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1959 Replaced ailing Mario Bonnard as director (also co-screenwriter) on "Last Days of Pompeii" starring Steve Reeves; refused to accept screen credit
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1961 Directed first credited feature film, "The Colossus of Rhodes"
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1964 Achieved international success with the first installment in his "Man with No Name" trilogy, "A Fistful of Dollars" (under the pseudonym Bob Robertson), starring Clint Eastwood
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1973 Credited with the story idea for "My Name Is Nobody"
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1984 Last major directorial effort, "Once Upon a Time in America"
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Briefly moved to France in the late 1970s
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First credit as co-screenwriter, "Nel segno di Roma/Sign of the Gladiator"
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Headed his own production company, Rafran Cinematografica
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Worked as an assistant director on such American productions as "Helen of Troy" (1956), "The Nun's Story", "Ben Hur" (both 1959)
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Worked as assistant to Robert Aldrich on "Sodom and Gomorrah"