Italian director (1929-1989). The son of a film pioneer and a movie star, Leone directed his first movie after he had to fill in for a sick director. His best known movies include "A Fistful of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "Once Upon a Time in the West", and "Once Upon a Time in America". He did not invent the spaghetti Western, but he helped to make it popular.

Among his trademarks was the extreme close-up and the use of theme music for each character. At one time, he was going to direct "The Godfather".