Sergio Leone

Sergio Leone

3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989

An Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. After watching his father work on film sets, Leone began his own career in the film industry at the age of 18 after dropping out of law studies at the university. Working in Italian cinematography, he began as an assistant to Vittorio de Sica during the movie "The Bicycle Thief" in 1948. Leone began writing screenplays during the 1950s, primarily for the 'sword and sandal' (a.k.a. 'peplum') historical epics, popular at the time. 

Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots.He's most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.

Sergio Leone received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, and the David di Donatello Award and the America Award in memory, from the Italy-USA Foundation in 2014.

As director, writer, producer

• Afrodite, dea dell'amore (1958)
• The Last Days of Pompeii (1959)
• Nel Segno di Roma (1959)
• The Colossus of Rhodes (1961)
• The Seven Revenges (1961)
• Romolo e Remo (1961)
• A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
• Slave Girls of Sheba (1964)
• For a Few Dollars More (1965)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
• Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
• Duck, You Sucker! (aka A Fistful of Dynamite or Once Upon a Time... the Revolution) (1971)
• My Name is Nobody (1973)
• A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
• Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
• Troppo forte (1986)

Quotations

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I can't see America any other way than with a European's eyes. It fascinates me and terrifies me at the same time.

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In my childhood, America was like a religion. Then, real-life Americans abruptly entered my life - in jeeps - and upset all my dreams.

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