Coming out of a musical family and trained as a stage actor, Don Siegel became one of the most respected directors of action films in Hollywood. He began his career as a film librarian and advanced through the editing department at Warner Bros., where he frequently directed transition and linking footage in the early '40s, making two Oscar-winning short films during this same period.
Siegel became a feature director in 1946 with an offbeat mystery called The Verdict, starring Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. His second film, the much-underrated Night Unto Night, proved so difficult a subject -- as a psychological drama about a dying man (Ronald Reagan) and a suicidal woman (Viveca Lindfors, who was then Siegel's wife) -- that its release was delayed for more than two years. During the early '50s, Siegel made his reputation as an efficient, reliable, often inspired maker of action and crime films, most notably Riot In Cell Block H and Private Hell 36 (both 1954). His ability to transform difficult or lackluster script material into original, memorable, often startling motion pictures was established with 1955's Invasion Of the Body Snatchers, one of the most unsettling, popular, and profitable science fiction films of the decade.
Siegel thrived for the next 15 years in relative obscurity (although he made one of Elvis Presley's finest films, Flaming Star) until the late '60s, when he began his association with Clint Eastwood. His Eastwood vehicles included Two Mules For Sister Sara, The Beguiled (both 1970), and the phenomenally popular and controversial police thriller Dirty Harry (1971). The actor and future director was just rising to fame after his success in Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns, and Siegel's recognition rose commensurately with Eastwood's popularity. He became something of a mentor to Eastwood and made a cameo in the actor's directorial debut, Play Misty For Me (1971). Siegel's other '70s films included John Wayne's final movie, The Shootist (1976), and the Cold War thriller Telefon (1977). He made another cameo appearance as a taxi driver in Philip Kaufman's Body Snatchers remake in 1978 and directed Eastwood one last time in 1979's Escape From Alcatraz. Retired from films since the early '80s, Siegel died of cancer in 1991. Eastwood wrote a forward for his autobiography, A Siegel Film, which was published posthumously in 1993.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Into the Night
Actor |
1985 | |||
|
Jinxed!
Actor, Director |
1982 | |||
|
Rough Cut
Director |
1980 | |||
|
Escape from Alcatraz
Actor, Director, Producer |
1979 | |||
| 1978 | ||||
|
Telefon
Director |
1977 | |||
|
The Shootist
Director |
1976 | |||
|
The Black Windmill
Director, Producer |
1974 | |||
|
Charley Varrick
Actor, Director, Producer |
1973 | |||
|
Dirty Harry
Director, Producer |
1971 | |||
|
The Beguiled
Director, Producer |
1970 | |||
|
Two Mules for Sister Sara
Director |
1970 | |||
|
Death of a Gunfighter
Director |
1969 | |||
|
Coogan's Bluff
Actor, Director, Producer |
1968 | |||
|
Madigan
Director |
1968 | |||
|
Stranger on the Run
Director |
1967 | |||
|
The Hanged Man
Director |
1964 | |||
|
The Killers
Director, Producer |
1964 | |||
| 1964 | ||||
|
The Twilight Zone: Uncle Simon
Director |
1963 | |||
|
Hell Is for Heroes
Director |
1962 | |||
|
Flaming Star
Director |
1960 | |||
|
Edge of Eternity
Actor, Director |
1959 | |||
|
Hound-Dog Man
Director |
1959 | |||
|
Spanish Affair
Director |
1958 | |||
|
The Gun Runners
Director |
1958 | |||
|
The Lineup
Director |
1958 | |||
|
Baby Face Nelson
Director |
1957 | |||
|
Crime in the Streets
Director |
1956 | |||
|
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Actor, Director |
1956 | |||
|
An Annapolis Story
Director |
1955 | |||
|
Private Hell 36
Director |
1954 | |||
|
Riot in Cell Block 11
Director |
1954 | |||
|
China Venture
Director |
1953 | |||
|
Count the Hours
Director |
1953 | |||
|
No Time for Flowers
Director |
1952 | |||
|
The Duel at Silver Creek
Director |
1952 | |||
|
Night Unto Night
Director |
1949 | |||
|
The Big Steal
Director |
1949 | |||
|
The Verdict
Director |
1946 | |||
|
Star in the Night
Director |
1945 | |||
|
The Adventures of Mark Twain
Cinematographer |
1944 | |||
|
Edge of Darkness
Special Effects |
1943 | |||
|
Mission to Moscow
Consultant/advisor |
1943 | |||
|
Northern Pursuit
Special Effects |
1943 | |||
|
Casablanca
Special Effects |
1942 |


