Director Don Siegel (1912-1991) was born in Chicago and educated in England. He trained for the stage at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but returned to the U.S. to work at Warner Bros. as a film cutter and montage artist. He began his directing career with shorts, two of which won Oscars® in the same year, 1945. The following year, Siegel made his debut as a director of features with The Verdict (1946).

Until the late 1950s, when he was discovered by French critics and filmmakers who recognized him as an authentic auteur, Siegel worked on low-budget productions that he often elevated with his incisive talent. Siegel's The Big Steal (1949), with Robert Mitchum tracking down a payroll thief in Mexico, is now considered a definitive film noir. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), with its mysterious pods taking over human lives, is one of the most suspenseful sci-fi thrillers of its period and is regarded by some as a powerful metaphor of the McCarthy era.

In the 1960s and '70s Siegel worked with many of Hollywood's top leading men, including Steve McQueen in the World War II action film Hell Is For Heroes (1962), Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda in the police drama Madigan (1968), Walter Matthau in the crime thriller Charley Varrick (1973), John Wayne and James Stewart in the somber Western The Shootist and Charles Bronson in the Cold War caper Telefon (1977). Siegel's most significant star partner, however, was Clint Eastwood, whom he directed with great success in five films including Dirty Harry (1971). Siegel, who retired in 1982, was married to actresses Viveca Lindfors and Doe Avedon.

The films in TCM's tribute to Don Siegel are Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Madigan (1968), Charley Varrick (1973), Hell Is For Heroes (1962), The Big Steal (1949) and Telefon (1977).

by Roger Fristoe