[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sergio_Leone_743.jpg]]
->''"Cinema takes violence from life. Not the other way around."''

Sergio Leone (3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an UsefulNotes/{{Ital|y}}ian film director who almost single-handedly launched (and directed the most memorable movies of) the mid-sixties/early-seventies cycle of {{Spaghetti Western}}s.

Leone was literally born into cinema: his father was silent film director Vincenzo Leone (often credited as Roberto Roberti[[note]]Leone's Americanized pseudonym on ''A Fistful of Dollars'', Bob Robertson, was an homage to his father[[/note]]), and his mother actress Bice Valerian. Although born in Naples, he spent most of his childhood in Rome, where he attended school with his future collaborator Music/EnnioMorricone. His father took part in the anti-Nazi Resistance in Rome during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII but forbade his teenage son to join him. Leone initially intended to become an attorney, but after several semesters at law school, dropped out to follow his father's footsteps instead.

After the war, Leone began his career as an assistant director, notably working on Vittorio de Sica's ''Film/BicycleThieves'' and as an assistant to producer Dino de Laurentiis. In the 1950s he also served as an assistant on various Hollywood productions which filmed at Rome's Cinecitta studios, including ''Film/BenHur1959'' and ''Film/TheNunsStory''. Finally, in 1961 he was offered his debut film, a SwordAndSandal epic called ''The Colossus of Rhodes''. As the sword-and-sandal boom had faded by then, ''Colossus'' was not a major hit. However, in 1963 Leone was approached by Jolly Film to direct a low-budget Western, and the rest is history.

Besides his directorial career, Leone produced a number of movies through his studio, Rafran (named after his children, Rafaella, Francesca and Andrea) in the '70s and '80s. Besides ''My Name is Nobody'', his most successful were a series of comedies directed by and starring Carlo Verdone. At the time of his death, Leone had several projects in gestation, including a film based on the World War II Siege of Leningrad.

While Leone's Westerns were highly successful upon initial release, they were generally dismissed by contemporary critics, especially in America and the UK (not helped by the fact that many of his movies suffered from heavy cuts in their international releases). Nonetheless, their GrayAndGreyMorality, stylized violence, iconic soundtracks by Ennio Morricone and unique visual style (contrasting widescreen SceneryPorn with [[ExtremeCloseUp extreme close-ups]] of his protagonists) proved extremely influential on subsequent filmmakers, from Creator/MartinScorsese to Creator/QuentinTarantino.

No relation to the country of UsefulNotes/SierraLeone.

!!His major films:
* ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'' -- An inspired rip-off of ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'', which [[{{Recycled In Space}} effectively transplanted]] [[Creator/AkiraKurosawa Kurosawa]]'s JidaiGeki to TheWildWest (and made Creator/ClintEastwood a star). Together with the next two, it makes up the [[Film/DollarsTrilogy "Dollars" Trilogy]].
* ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'' -- The sequel. It has Eastwood's "[[NoNameGiven man with no name]]" and Creator/LeeVanCleef's "man in black" as rival [[BountyHunter Bounty Hunters]] going after a [[Film/BlueVelvet Frank Booth]]-esque bad guy played by Gian Maria Volonté again. For one of them, ItsPersonal.
* ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' -- The {{Prequel}}, and one of the greatest films of the Western genre ever. GoldFever, UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, ''lots'' of romantic subtext between the VillainProtagonist and the SupportingProtagonist, and an Music/EnnioMorricone theme that has since become a StandardSnippet. Creator/LeeVanCleef plays a completely different character, this time, the BigBad.
* ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' -- Leone's {{deconstruction}} of the entire [[TheWestern Western]] genre, including his own previous films. Best known among film buffs for its stroke-of-genius casting: Creator/CharlesBronson as another "man with no name," smoky Creator/ClaudiaCardinale as the widow whose fortunes drive the plot, and Creator/HenryFonda as [[PlayingAgainstType the villain]]. Best known to the rest of the world as the title that launched a thousand snowclones, including Tsui Hark's ''Film/OnceUponATimeInChina'', and Creator/RobertRodriguez's ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico''.
* ''Film/AFistfulOfDynamite'' -- Takes place during the Mexican Revolution in 1913, undoubtedly his most overlooked film. Suffered badly from Leone's conviction that Americans have ever used the phrase "Duck, you sucker!" (its original title).
* ''Film/MyNameIsNobody'' -- Leone's farewell to the genre he helped to create. Leone is credited as the producer, but directed several scenes himself. He also produced a follow-up, the InNameOnly sequel called ''Nobody's the Greatest'' (or ''A Genius, Two Partners, and a Dupe'').
* ''Film/OnceUponATimeInAmerica'' -- Epic gangster movie set in New York during TheRoaringTwenties. Follows the rise of four boys in the criminal underworld.
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