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Sam Peckinpah: Life
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Peckinpah was descended from early settlers in California who became ranchers and mill owners. His father and grandfather were judges, but Peckinpah grew up on a ranch. The independent spirit of his background and upbringing infused his entire life and career. As a teenager, Peckinpah was such a troublemaker that his father sent him to military school to try to rehabilitate him. Peckinpah served in the U.S. Marines during World World II.
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Climaxing in a spectacular slow-mo gun battle, Peckinpah's most commercially successful film was adapted from a dark prison-escape yarn by pulp novelist Jim Thompson. The real-life sexual tension between Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw helps fuel their performances as desperate lovers on the run from homicidal crime barons.
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Peckinpah was seriously ill during the final years of his life, as a lifetime of self-abuse began to catch up with him. Regardless, he continued to work until the last months before his death. He died of heart failure on December 28, 1984.[20] At the time, he was in preparation for shooting an original script by Stephen King entitled "The Shotgunners".[21]
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Self-destruction was a constant motif in Peckinpah's life. He battled alcoholism and a rash of illnesses and physical limitations. Because of the excesses of his lifestyle, Peckinpah developed heart disease. He eventually had to wear a pacemaker.
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