---
name: "Sergio Leone"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sergio-leone"
fi1m_id: "sergio-leone"
imdb_id: "nm0001466"
tmdb_id: 4385
wikidata_id: "Q164562"
roles: ["Director","Writer"]
born: "3 January 1929"
died: "30 April 1989"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 8
average_fi1m_score: 87
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-25T04:08:26.836166+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Sergio Leone

## Identity

Sergio Leone

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sergio-leone
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** sergio-leone
- **IMDb ID:** nm0001466
- **TMDB ID:** 4385
- **Wikidata ID:** Q164562
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Leone, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q164562, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001466/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4385

Director and writer. Born 3 January 1929 in Rome, Italy. Died 30 April 1989.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer
- **Born:** 3 January 1929, Rome, Italy
- **Died:** 30 April 1989
- **Active:** 1951–1984
- **Also known as:** Bob Robertson
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 8: 4 directing, 3 crew, 1 other
- **Frequently works with:** [Clint Eastwood](https://film.one/person/clint-eastwood.md), [Alberto Grimaldi](https://film.one/person/alberto-grimaldi.md), [Gian Maria Volonté](https://film.one/person/gian-maria-volonte.md), [Lee Van Cleef](https://film.one/person/lee-van-cleef.md), [Luciano Vincenzoni](https://film.one/person/luciano-vincenzoni.md), [Luigi Pistilli](https://film.one/person/luigi-pistilli.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 87, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 93 (1), 1950s 75 (3), 1960s 89 (3), 1980s 81 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 87 to 81 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Western 3, Drama 2, Crime 1
- **Screen time:** 10 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $65m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Leone, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q164562, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001466/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4385

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*The Good, the Bad and the Ugly*](https://film.one/film/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.md) (92)
- **Apple TV:** [*For a Few Dollars More*](https://film.one/film/for-a-few-dollars-more.md) (85)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Sergio Leone

> Sergio Leone builds Westerns around selfish men and long, carefully staged confrontations. We prize their suspense and grubby humour, though he sometimes prolongs an encounter beyond the point when it has anything left to show us.

A face fills the screen, then a long shot makes the people small again. Sergio Leone holds our attention by deciding how long we must look before anybody acts. His Westerns are worth the patience he asks of us. The pleasure starts well before anyone reaches for a gun.

*A Fistful of Dollars* (1964) was the breakthrough that helped take the spaghetti Western to an international audience. By *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* (1966), the third film in the Dollars trilogy, Leone could make a gold hunt sustain 161 minutes, though not every minute earns its place. *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968) developed his extended visual storytelling further. After *Duck, You Sucker* (1971) came a long gap before the gangsters of *Once Upon a Time in America* (1984).

The gold hunters remain our clearest reason for recommending him. In *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly*, nobody has to become decent to hold our attention, and Eli Wallach supplies much of the grubby humour. We were more moved than we expected when the suffering of the war interrupted the pleasure of watching criminals at work. Leone lets us enjoy their ingenuity without pretending that the world around them is having much fun.

Ennio Morricone's music is crucial: Leone allows it to be conspicuous, and its scale makes the violence more exciting than a description of the plot could suggest. Carlo Simi's production design and costumes keep the men convincing in their barren surroundings. That roughness matters when the confrontations become extravagantly theatrical. We can accept the display because the people still look as though they belong there.

He is less reliable about knowing when an encounter is finished. The middle of *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* wanders, and his lingering over brutality sometimes makes its compassion harder to accept. These are real irritations in a film we would still recommend to someone with no particular interest in Westerns. Start there, and allow him more of the evening than three men looking for gold strictly require.

## Biography

Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Rome on 3 January 1929, he was the son of a film industry pioneer and an actress. He began his career in the late 1940s as an assistant director on Italian and American productions filming in Italy, later working as a second-unit director and screenwriter.

Leone directed *The Colossus of Rhodes* (1961). He is credited as a pioneer of the spaghetti western genre with *A Fistful of Dollars* (1964), *For a Few Dollars More* (1965) and *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* (1966). His other films include *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968), *Duck, You Sucker* (1971) and *Once Upon a Time in America* (1984). He died in Rome on 30 April 1989.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com.*

## On Fi1m (8)

### Directed (4) — the average rests on these

- *Once Upon a Time in America* (1984), Fi1m 81, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-america.md)
- *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968), Fi1m 91, Story, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west.md)
- *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* (1966), Fi1m 92, Screenplay, Story, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.md)
- *For a Few Dollars More* (1965), Fi1m 85, as Whistling Bounty Hunter (voice) (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/for-a-few-dollars-more.md)

### Crew (3)

- *Ben-Hur* (1959), Fi1m 76, Second Unit Director — [page](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md)
- *The Nun's Story* (1959), Fi1m 84, Assistant Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-nuns-story.md)
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Fi1m 65, Second Unit Director — [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Bicycle Thieves* (1948), Fi1m 93, as A Seminary Student (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/bicycle-thieves.md)

## Complete filmography (51)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Sad Hill Unearthed* (2018), In Memory Of
- *Vivaldi, the Red Priest* (2009), as And with
- *Unforgiven* (1992), Thanks — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/unforgiven.md)
- *The King of Ads* (1991), Director
- *Too Much* (1986), Story, Screenplay
- *Once Upon a Time in America* (1984), Screenplay, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-america.md)
- *Bianco, rosso e Verdone* (1981), Executive Producer
- *Fun Is Beautiful* (1980), Producer
- *The Cat* (1977), Producer
- *A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot* (1975), Executive Producer, Assistant Director, Idea, Director of Operations, Producer, Screenplay
- *My Name Is Nobody* (1973), Idea, Executive Producer, Second Assistant Director, Second Unit Director
- *Duck, You Sucker* (1971), Director, Screenplay, Story
- *Cemetery without Crosses* (1969), Assistant Director
- *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968), Director, Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west.md)
- *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* (1966), Director, Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.md)
- *For a Few Dollars More* (1965), as Whistling Bounty Hunter (voice) (uncredited) · Screenplay, Director, Story — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/for-a-few-dollars-more.md)
- *A Fistful of Dollars* (1964), Director, Screenstory, Screenplay
- *Slave Girls of Sheba* (1963), Screenplay
- *The Changing of the Guard* (1962), Second Unit Director
- *Sodom and Gomorrah* (1962), Second Unit Director
- *Romulus and Remus* (1961), Story, Screenplay
- *The Colossus of Rhodes* (1961), Director, Story, Screenplay
- *The Seven Revenges* (1961), Screenplay
- *Ben-Hur* (1959), Second Unit Director — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md)
- *The Last Days of Pompeii* (1959), Writer, Co-Director
- *Son of the Red Corsair* (1959), First Assistant Director
- *The Nun's Story* (1959), Assistant Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-nuns-story.md)
- *Sign of the Gladiator* (1959), Story, Screenplay
- *Quai des illusions* (1959), Assistant Director
- *Aphrodite, Goddess of Love* (1958), Story, First Assistant Director, Screenplay
- *The Teacher and the Miracle* (1957), Assistant Director
- *Mi permette babbo!* (1956), First Assistant Director
- *Helen of Troy* (1956), Second Unit Director
- *La ladra* (1955), First Assistant Director
- *They Stole a Tram* (1954), as Presentatore del concorso · First Assistant Director
- *Night of Love* (1954), First Assistant Director
- *Of Life and Love* (1954), First Assistant Director
- *Frine cortigiana d'Oriente* (1953), Assistant Director
- *Man, Beast and Virtue* (1953), Script Supervisor
- *Past Lovers* (1953), Second Assistant Director
- *Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair* (1953), Assistant Director
- *I tre corsari* (1952), Assistant Director, Script Supervisor
- *Girls Marked Danger* (1952), Script Supervisor
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Second Unit Director — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *Milano miliardaria* (1951), as Extra (uncredited) · Editorial Staff
- *Il folle di Marechiaro* (1950), as Soldato statunitense
- *Taxi di notte* (1950), Second Assistant Director
- *La forza del destino* (1950), Assistant Director
- *Bicycle Thieves* (1948), as A Seminary Student (uncredited) — Fi1m 93, [page](https://film.one/film/bicycle-thieves.md)
- *La bocca sulla strada* (1941), as Un bambino
- *Colt*, Original Story

## Gallery

- ![Sergio Leone (2006)](https://film.one/media/person/102208/gallery-897ebff823e8.jpg) Sergio Leone (2006) — Rulo, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Sergio_Leone%2C_Re%C4%9Disoro.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Sergio Leone, Italian film director.](https://film.one/media/person/102208/gallery-fd144d26d8f2.jpg) Sergio Leone, Italian film director. — Obbino, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Sergio_Leone%2C_crop.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Interview with Sergio Leone, 1975, Rai.](https://film.one/media/person/102208/gallery-a1a5a01f75b7.jpg) Interview with Sergio Leone, 1975, Rai. — RAI, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Sergio_Leone%2C_interview%2C_1975.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Sergio Leone](https://film.one/media/person/102208/gallery-384eab2a788d.jpg) Sergio Leone — Obbino, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Sergio_Leone.jpg/1280px-Sergio_Leone.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Sergio Leone](https://film.one/media/person/102208/gallery-553dbc031654.jpg) Sergio Leone — Image via TMDB
- ![Sergio Leone](https://film.one/media/person/102208/gallery-f0152517d22e.jpg) Sergio Leone — Image via TMDB
- ![Sergio Leone](https://film.one/media/person/102208/gallery-b25abc9e9617.jpg) Sergio Leone — Image via TMDB
- ![Sergio Leone on the set of A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)](https://film.one/media/person/102208/gallery-133555c1cd2e.jpg) Sergio Leone on the set of A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Sergio_Leone_1975.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sergio-leone