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Sam Peckinpah
[1925-1984]
| short profile | ![director Sam Peckinpah [1925-84] on location in the desert](images/SamPeckinpah-glasses.jpg "director Sam Peckinpah [1925-84] on location in the desert") |
"Pouring new wine into the bottle of the Western, Peckinpah explodes the bottle."
critic Pauline Kael
"The end of a picture is always an end of a life."
"Life is awful. Ain't it fun to watch?"
— Sam Peckinpah
B I O
h e r e
Murray Hotel [est. 1904] in Livingston, MT {where Sam lived 1974-84}
Peckinpah's reputation hinges on eighteen pictures
 | Sam Peckinpah was nominated for a shared Oscar for "The Wild Bunch" [1969] {Best Original Screenplay} |
He also received
a W.G.A. Award nomination, 1966
two D.G.A. Award nominations, 1966 & 1970
a Golden Boot Award, 1984
two awards at the Cognac Festival du Film Policier, 1984
and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Sam Peckinpah entry at Wikipedia
Sam Peckinpah's credits [1952-83] at Internet Movie Database
browse Sam Peckinpah on DVD at Amazon
Sam Peckinpah books catalog at Amazon
Sam Peckinpah's Films
Sam Peckinpah's credits [1954-83] at Internet Movie Database
browse all Sam Peckinpah videos/DVDs at Amazon
Sam Peckinpah's Westerns on VHS | Sam Peckinpah's Westerns on used VHS
 | "Sam Peckinpah's Legendary Westerns Collection" box set [2000] includes "Ride The High Country" [1962], "The Wild Bunch" [1969] Special Edition, "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" [1970] & "Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid" [1973] Special Edition plus outtakes, 8 documentaries & featurettes, and other extras Warner widescreen color DVD box set [1/2006] 6 disks for $45.00 |
"Riot In Cell Block 11" [1954] /tt0047417/ as a production assistant
"Gunsmoke" (TV Series) wrote 11 episodes 1955-58
Dirt (1958) ... (screenplay by - as David S. Peckinpah)
How to Kill a Woman (1957) ... (screenplay by - as David S. Peckinpah)
Jealousy (1957) ... (screenplay by)
Poor Pearl (1956) ... (screenplay by)
Legal Revenge (1956) ... (screenplay by)
The Round Up (1956) ... (screenplay by)
The Guitar (1956) ... (screenplay by)
How to Die for Nothing (1956) ... (screenplay by)
Cooter (1956) ... (screenplay by)
Yorky (1956) ... (screenplay by)
The Queue (1955) ... (screenplay by)
"Broken Arrow" (TV Series) wrote 3 episodes, 1957-58
The Transfer (1958) ... (writer)
The Teacher (1957) ... (teleplay)
The Assassin (1957) ... (teleplay)
"The Rifleman" (TV Series) wrote 6 episodes, 1958-59
The Baby Sitter (1959) ... (story) / (teleplay)
The Money Gun (1959) ... (teleplay)
The Boarding House (1959) ... (written by)
The Marshal (1958) ... (story) / (teleplay)
Home Ranch (1958) ... (written by)
The Sharpshooter (1958) ... (written by)
"Zane Grey Theater" (TV Series) wrote 4 episodes, 1958-60
Miss Jenny (1960)
Lonesome Road (1959) ... (writer)
Trouble at Tres Cruces (1959) ... (writer)
The Sharpshooter (1958) ... (writer)
"Klondike" (TV Series) wrote 2 episodes, 1960
Swoger's Mule (1960) ... (writer)
Klondike Fever (1960) ... (story) / (teleplay)
"The Westerner" (TV Series) 1960] /tt0053551/
producer on all 13 episodes, writer on all 13 episodes, directed 5 episodes
"The Deadly Companions"feature film [1961] /tt0054795/
"Ride The High Country" [MGM June 1962]
 | McCrea plays an aging ex-lawman hired to guard a shipment of gold. An old friend (Scott, in his last feature role) agrees to help, but intends to take the gold for himself. They meet a young woman on the trail who is running away from her mean rancher father and her fiance and his psycho brothers. Directed by Sam Peckinpah; starring Joel McCrea, Randolph Scott, Mariette Hartley, Edgar Buchanan, Warren Oates & L.Q. Jones; listed in US National Film Registry 1992
Warner Home Video widescreen color DVD [1/2006] for $14.99 Warner color VHS [3/91] out of prodn/many used full credits from IMDb |
[Turner Ent. Jan 2006 video release]
Co-produced, written & directed by Nick Redman; available as part of the Peckinpah box set above
and on the "High Country" DVD; full credits from IMDb
"Pericles on 31st Street" (1962) episode of the The Dick Powell Theatre (TV Series) as writer
"The Losers" (1963) episode of the The Dick Powell Theatre (TV Series) as writer
"The Glory Guys" [United Artists July 1965]
 | A troop of hard-luck losers stuck in the cavalry of the U.S. Army set out on a suicide mission against battle-hardened Apache warriors (based on the Major Reno portion of the Battle of the Little Big Horn) Produced by Levy-Gardner-Laven; directed by Arnold Laven; script by Sam Peckinpah, from a novel by Hoffman Birney; cinematography by James Wong Howe; starring Tom Tryon, Harve Presnell, Senta Berger, Michael Anderson Jr., James Caan, Andrew Duggan, Slim Pickens, Peter Breck, Robert McQueeney, Wayne Rogers & William Meigs
M.G.M. color VHS [9/98] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb based on the 1956 novel "The Dice of God" by Hoffman Birney Henry Holt & Co. hardcover [1/56] out of print/used |
"Major Dundee" [1965] /tt0059418/
"Noon Wine" [1966 TV film] /tt0209186/
"Villa Rides" [1968 screenplay] /tt0063775/
"The Wild Bunch" [Warner/Seven Arts June 1969]
 | A deep meditation on the ending of the Western frontier, controversial for the vividness of the on-screen violence, yet superbly romantic: All that a Western tale should be. Directed by Sam Peckinpah; starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, and the scurrilous L.Q. Jones & Strother Martin; Oscar nominations for Best Script & Best Music; award for Best Cinematography from N.F.S.C. Warner Home Video widescreen color Blu-ray [9/2007] for $11.49 Warner Video widescreen Director's Cut 145-min. DVD [8/97] for $10.99 Warner Video Anniv. Edition 179-min. color VHS [11/2001] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
 | "Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch" [1998] Edited by Stephen Prince Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 pb [12/98] for $23.00 Cambridge Univ Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/98] for $50.00 |
"A Simple Adventure Story: Sam Peckinpah, Mexico, and The Wild Bunch"
40-minute short [Warner Bros. Feb 2005]
Written & directed by Nick Redman; available as part of the Peckinpah box set above;
full credits from IMDb
"The Wild Bunch: An Album In Montage" documentary short [1996]
Directed by Paul Seydor; Oscar nomination; available as part of the Peckinpah box set above
full credits from IMDb
Greek 'Wild Bunch' fansite
U.K. 'Wild Bunch' fansite
Announced 8/2011: Director Tony Scott is planning to direct a remake of
Sam Peckinpahs 1969 classic Western The Wild Bunch
"The Ballad of Cable Hogue" [1970] /tt0065446/
A lyrical and touching fable about a man who finds water in the desert; filmed on various movie ranches, the film also shot at the Valley of Fire State Park
and other desert locales around Las Vegas Directed by Sam Peckinpah [1925-84]; stars Jason Robards, Stella Stevens, David Warner
"Straw Dogs" [1971]
"Passion & Poetry: Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs"
38-minute documentary [indep 2007 video release]
Writtem & directed by Mike Siegel video/DVD not available
full credits from IMDb
"Straw Dogs" remake [2011]
http://www.strawdogsmovie.com/
"The Getaway" [1972]
based on the 1959 novel by Jim Thompson [1906-77]
"Junior Bonner" [1972]
"Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid" [MGM May 1973]
 | The new sheriff is ordered to capture a former pardner, who is now the outlaw Billy The Kid. Directed by Sam Peckinpah; starring James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson (as Billy), Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado, Chill Wills, Barry Sullivan, Jason Robards, Bob Dylan, R.G. Armstrong, Rita Coolidge, Jack Elam, Paul Fix, L.Q. Jones, Slim Pickens & Harry Dean Stanton
Warner widescreen restored 237-min. version color DVD [1/2006] 2 disks for $14.99 Warner color VHS [10/89] out of prodn/used Sony soundtrack CD [7/73] for $9.98 full credits from IMDb |
"Deconstructing Pat and Billy" [undated]
available as part of the Peckinpah box set above and on the "Pat Garrett" DVD not listed on IMDb
"Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia" [1974]
"The Killer Elite" [1975]
"Cross of Iron" [Avco/EMI 1976]
 | Death, horror & futility an anti-war film from the German Army point of view, as they retreat from the debacle of Stalingrad. And do not miss the very last freeze-frame, which is what makes Peckinpah's only war movie an existential masterpiece. Directed by Sam Peckinpah; adapted from Willi Heinrich's novel (below); starring James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason & David Warner
Hen's Tooth Video Special Edition widescreen color DVD [4/2006] for $22.48 Hen's Tooth Video color DVD [2/2000] out of print/used Hen's Tooth Video color VHS [10/98] for $19.99 full credits from IMDb watch full movie w/Korean subtitles [2.12.41] online at YouTube based on the novel "The Willing Flesh" by Willi Heinrich Noontide hardcover [5/88] out of print/used Bantam pb [3/81] out of print/used |
"Convoy" [1978]
"Jinxed!" [stunt director; 1982]
"The Osterman Weekend" [1983]
"The Osterman Weekend" remake [for 2013? release]
Announced September 2010: new script by Jesse Wigutow, to be directed by Robert Schwentke
directed Julian Lennon music video "Too Late For Goodbyes" [1984] /tt3900026/
directed Julian Lennon music video "Valotte" [1984] /tt3900032/
Works About Sam Peckinpah
 | "Sam Peckinpah, Master of Violence: Being The Account of The Making of A Movie and Other Sundry Things" [1972] by Max Evans Dakota Press 8½x5 hardcover [1972] out of print/used | |
 | "Peckinpah: The Western Films - A Reconsideration" [1980] by Paul Seydor Univ IL Press 9x6 pb [8/99] for $15.37 Univ IL Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1/97] for $34.95 | |
 | "Sam Peckinpah: If They Move, Kill'em" [1994] by David Weddle Grove Press 9x6 pb [2/2001] for $12.57 Grove Press hardcover [9/94] out of stock/used | |
 | "Peckinpah: A Portrait In Montage" [1997] by Garner Simmons Limelight 9x6 pb [11/98] for $18.95 | |
 | "Sam Peckinpah" biography [2000] by Richard Luck Pocket Essentials mass pb [10/2000] out of print/used | |
 | "Passion & Poetry: Sam Peckinpah In Pictures" [2003] by Mike Siegel, with Ulrich P. Bruckner German-language Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf 9¼x6½ pb [11/2003] import/used German-language 23.4x16.8cm taschenbuch [11/2003] ab 35,90 via Amazon.DE | |
 | "This Wounded Cinema, This Wounded Life: Violence & Utopia In The Films of Sam Peckinpah" [2004] by Gabrielle Murray
Praeger 9¼x6 hardcover [8/2004] for $72.23 | |
 | "Horizons West: Directing The Western From John Ford To Clint Eastwood" [2008] by Jim Kitses examines Western directors Budd Boetticher, Clint Eastwood, John Ford [1894-1973], Sergio Leone, Anthony Mann, and Sam Peckinpah British Film Institute 9x6 pb [1/2008] for $27.85 British Film Institute 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1/2008] for $85.95 | |
 | "Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance" [2009] by D. Harlan Wilson, Introduction by Ian Cooper Quite the surreal work of fiction, both in content and in form, which includes pages in screenplay format . . . Kindle Edition from Raw Dog Screaming Press [9/2013] for $4.99 Raw Dog Screaming Press 8x5 pb [9/2013] out of print/used Shroud Publng 9x6 pb [8/2009] out of print/used | |
 | "Goin' Crazy With Sam Peckinpah and All Our Friends" [2014] by Max Evans, as told to Robert Nott . . . and those friends include James Coburn, Brian Keith, Lee Marvin, Joel McCrea, and Warren Oates Kindle Edition from Univ New Mexico Press [8/2014] for $9.99 Univ New Mexico Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2014] for $23.79 Univ New Mexico Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2014] out of print/used Univ New Mexico Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2014] out of print/used |
"One Foot In The Groove: Remembering Sam Peckinpah & Other Things" [undated]
available as part of the Peckinpah box set above and on the "Pat Garrett" DVD not listed on IMDb
"Deconstructing Pat and Billy" [undated]
available as part of the Peckinpah box set above and on the "Pat Garrett" DVD not listed on IMDb
"Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron" [B.B.C./A&E 1992 TV]
Directed by Paul Joyce; available on Criterion's DVD of "Straw Dogs" {above}
full credits from IMDb
"The Wild Bunch: An Album In Montage" documentary short [1996]
Directed by Paul Seydor; Oscar nomination; available as part of the Peckinpah box set above
full credits from IMDb
"Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of A Hollywood Renegade"
[Starz!-Encore TV special July 2004]
Produced & directed by Tom Thurman; written by Tom Marksbury; narrated by Kris Kristofferson; won Western Heritage Bronze Wrangler Award in 2005
available as part of the Peckinpah box set above
full credits from IMDb
"Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah"
[Germany 2004, Japan 2015]
 |   | German filmmaker Michael Siegel is a big fan of Sam Peckinpah and he filmed interviews and made this 115-minute film and also a German-language companion book in 2003 Co-produced, written & directed by Mike Siegel; featuring Mario Adorf, R.G. Armstrong, Senta Berger, Ernest Borgnine, Gordon T. Dawson, Roger Fritz, Vadim Glowna, Chalo Gonzαlez, Katherine Haber, Bo Hopkins, L.Q. Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Martin Lewis, Ali MacGraw, Daniel Melnick, Lupita Peckinpah, Fern Lea Peter, Garner Simmons, Isela Vega, David Warner, and David Weddle, with archive footage of Sam Peckinpah & James Coburn
probably Region 2 color DVD [2004] 2 disks - imported/used full credits at IMDb Japanese official filmsite watch 8/2015 Japanese trailer [1:57] online at YouTube |
excerpts/variations of the 115-minute work have been released separately and also included on various English-language Peckinpah DVDs
"Passion & Poetry: Major Dundee" documentary short [Sept 2005] /tt1702383/
"Passion & Poetry: Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs" documentary featurette [July 2007]
Written & directed by Mike Siegel full credits from IMDb
"Passion & Poetry: The Early Sam" documentary short [April 2010] /tt1702384/
"Passion & Poetry: Sam's War" documentary featurette [Sept 2011] /tt1935868/
"Passion & Poetry: Sam's Killer Elite" documentary short [March 2013] /tt2928756/
"Passion & Poetry: Sam's Trucker Movie" 70-minute documentary [Oct 2013] /tt3142060/
"Passion & Poetry: Sam's Favorite Film" hour-long documentary [March 2014] /tt3573600/
"Passion & Poetry: The Glory Guys - Senta & Sam" documentary short [2016 /tt6033146/
"Passion & Poetry: Rodeo Time" hour-long documentary [Oct 2017] /tt7300856/
"Passion & Poetry: Peckinpah Anecdotes" documentary short [2017] /tt7301862/
"A Simple Adventure Story: Sam Peckinpah, Mexico and The Wild Bunch"
40-minute short [Warner Bros. Feb 2005]
Written & directed by Nick Redman available as part of the Peckinpah box set above
full credits from IMDb
"A Justified Life: Sam Peckinpah and The High Country"
[Turner Ent. Jan 2006 video release]
Co-produced, written & directed by Nick Redman available as part of the Peckinpah box set above
and on the "Ride The High Country" DVD
full credits from IMDb
Image Gallery
Family & Friends
David Edward Samuel Ernest Peckinpah, Jr. was born in 1925 in Fresno, California; his most-famous film "The Wild Bunch" was released in 1969.
Sam's reputation hinges on just eighteen pictures; he died of a heart attack at age 59 in Inglewood, California in December 1984.
brother Judge Denver Charles 'Denny' Peckinpah [1916-96]
Sam's nephew writer-producer David Peckinpah [1951-2006]
first wife Cecilia Marie Selland Peckinpah Taylor [1927-2006] - married in Las Vegas in 1947, divorced 1960
daughter Sharon Cecile Peckinpah [b. 1949]
daughter Kristen Louise Peckinpah Dennis [b. 1953]
fourth child?
son Matthew Peckinpah [b. 1962]
second & fourth wife Begoρa Palacios Peckinpah [19412000] - married 1964-67 & 1974-84
a very young & beautiful actress-dancer who first married Sam when he was filming "Major Dundee" in Mexico
daughter Maria Guadalupe Peckinpah Palacios [b. 1966?] better known as Lupita Peckinpah
third wife Joie Gould [] - married 1972-73
longtime pal Western author Max Evans
L i n k s
Sam Peckinpah entry at Wikipedia
Sam Peckinpah's credits [1954-83] at Internet Movie Database
browse all Sam Peckinpah videos/DVDs at Amazon
SM's Sam Peckinpah fansite
TB's Sam Peckinpah fansite
Film Four Sam Peckinpah page
Sam Peckinpah fansite on MySpace
Murray Hotel [est. 1904] in Livingston, Montana {where Sam lived 1974-84}
here on the Sam Peckinpah Page at 'Readers of The Purple Sage' Bookstore
top of page short profile films of Sam Peckinpah works about Sam Peckinpah image gallery family & friends links
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