History Creator / SamPeckinpah

* CulturedBadass: A rough-and-tumble, hard-drinking man's man with a deep appreciation for art and classical literature (Hemingway, Melville and Shakespeare being particular favorites).

* ChronicallyKilledActor: L.Q. Jones was in five Peckinpah films, and his character ends up getting whacked in each one. Warren Oates only survives in one of his four Peckinpah appearances.

After a stint in the Marines, he attended college, then moved to Hollywood. After some early behind-the-scenes film work, he made his name in television, writing episodes of ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'', ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel'' and some other Western shows. A Peckinpah script originally rejected from ''Gunsmoke'' became the basis for ''Series/TheRifleman'', and he did some writing and directing for it during its first season. He created the series ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Westerner_(TV_series) The Westerner]]'' in 1960, but it [[ShortRunners only lasted 13 episodes]]. He made his feature film directorial debut the next year with ''The Deadly Companions'', featuring ''Westerner'' star Brian Keith. ''Film/TheWildBunch'' kicked his career into high gear in 1969, but his irascible personality and personal vices led it to sputter out by the end of TheSeventies. He made a few steps toward a comeback in TheEighties, directing ''Film/TheOstermanWeekend'' and, oddly, two music videos for Music/JulianLennon, before passing away from heart failure in 1984.

!! Sam Peckinpah's signature style include:

[[caption-width-right:288:Caption says it all.]]

-->-- Sam Peckinpah

[[caption-width-right:288:[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus "Pretty strong meat there from *sniff* Sam Peckinpah."]]]]

* ProductionPosse: Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Creator/JamesCoburn, Kris Kristofferson, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong, John Davis Chandler, Creator/DavidWarner, Cassie Yates, Aurora Clavell, Creator/ErnestBorgnine, Creator/SteveMcQueenActor and Slim Pickens to name the most frequently occurring. He also frequently worked with cinematographer Lucien Ballard and composer Music/JerryFielding.

After a stint in the Marines, he attended college, then moved to Hollywood. After some early behind-the-scenes film work, he made his name in television, writing episodes of ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'', ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel'' and some other Western shows. A Peckinpah script originally rejected from ''Gunsmoke'' became the basis for ''Series/TheRifleman'', and he did some writing and directing for it during its first season. He created the series ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Westerner_(TV_series) The Westerner]]'' in 1960, but it [[ShortRunners only lasted 13 episodes]]. He made his feature film directorial debut the next year with ''The Deadly Companions'', featuring ''Westerners'' star Brian Keith.

David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was a director of manly movies. He specialized in [[{{Western}} Westerns]], a genre that had personal resonance for him, since he was born and raised in Fresno, California, and both of his parents were descended from prominent pioneer families. He spent much of his youth on a large ranch owned by his maternal grandfather, and learned first-hand about cowboys and frontier life.

An eccentric substance-abuser who was notorious for his gruff demeanor and rocky relationships with women, Peckinpah created a number of films that perfectly reflect his own personality: violent, nihilistic and cynical. Some of them stand as modern classics.

David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was a director of manly movies. An eccentric substance-abuser who was notorious for his gruff demeanor and rocky relationships with women, Peckinpah created a number of films that perfectly reflect his own personality: violent, nihilistic and cynical. Some of them stand as modern classics.

He also worked in TV earlier in his career, contributing well-regarded episodes to ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel'' and ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'', rewriting a rejected script from the latter to create ''Series/TheRifleman'', and later creating ''The Westerner''.

David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was a director of manly movies. An eccentric drug-abuser and lifelong alcoholic who was notorious for his gruff demeanor and rocky relationships with women, Peckinpah created a number of films that perfectly reflect his own personality: violent, nihilistic and cynical. Some of them stand as modern classics.

* SemperFi: He served in the United States Marine Corps.

!! Sam Peckinpah's life and signature style include:
* TheAlcoholic: His alcoholism received an almost memetic status in his lifetime.

David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (1925-1984) was a director of manly movies. An eccentric drug-abuser and lifelong alcoholic who was notorious for his gruff demeanor and rocky relationships with women, Peckinpah created a number of films that perfectly reflect his own personality: violent, nihilistic and cynical. Some of them stand as modern classics.

* ''Film/TheOstermanWeekend'': His final film, based on the Robert Ludlum novel.

* AntiHero
* BlackAndGreyMorality

* HonorBeforeReason
* KillEmAll
* NoKillLikeOverkill

* {{Overcrank}}

* ARealManIsAKiller

* SociopathicHero

* ''Film/JuniorBonner'': Another [[PlayingAgainstType uncharacteristically non-violent film]] starring SteveMcQueen as an aging rodeo bull-rider.
* ''Film/TheGetaway'': A crime caper also starring SteveMcQueen that was remade in 1994.

* AuthorAppeal: [[{{Gorn}} Extreme violence]] of course. Most of his films also features an extreme amount of alcohol being consumed, which again isn't surprising. Another common sight are cute, innocent children [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour doing morbid and disturbing things]] like torturing scorpions in Film/TheWildBunch, a dog in Film/StrawDogs and using a hangman's noose as a playground swing in "Pat Garret and Billy the Kid". Peckinpah seemed to believe that every passing generation became worse and less moral than the previous one, which this symbolised.

* AuthorAppeal: [[{{Gorn}} Extreme violence]] of course. Most of his films also features an extreme amount of alcohol being consumed, which again isn't surprising. Another common sight are cute, innocent children [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour doing morbid and diaturbing things]] like torturing scorpions in Film/TheWildBunch, a dog in Film/StrawDogs and using a hangmans noose as a playground swing in "Pat Garret and Billy the Kid". Peckinpah seemed to believe that every passing generation became worse and less moral than the previous one, which this was symbolism for.

* ''Film/TheKillerElite'': A freelance spy seeks his traitorous ex-partner. [[Film/KillerElite Remade in 2011]].

* ''Film/PatGarrettAndBillyTheKid'': Perhaps best known for being the origin of BobDylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door."

* ExecutiveMeddling: Frequently a victim of it, as he made little effort to compromise with studio heads or producers. ''Film/MajorDundee'' and ''Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid'' are the most extreme, though by no means the only examples. ''Film/TheWildBunch'' was a notable aversion: he worked well with producer Phil Feldman, though he disagreed with Feldman's decision to cut several scenes from the film.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: He reportedly preferred ''The Ballad of Cable Hogue'' to his more famous (and violent) works like ''The Wild Bunch'' and ''Straw Dogs''.

* ProductionPosse: Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Creator/JamesCoburn, Kris Kristofferson, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong, John Davis Chandler, Creator/DavidWarner, Cassie Yates, Aurora Clavell to name the most frequently occurring. He also frequently worked with cinematographer Lucien Ballard and composer Jerry Fielding.

* ''Film/MajorDundee'': A vicious {{Deconstruction}} of the Cavalry Vs. Indians formula crossed with MobyDick. A victim of extensive ExecutiveMeddling, it (and ''Film/TheCincinnatiKid'' from which he was fired) set the stage for Peckinpah's contentious relationships with producers and studio heads during the production of his later films.