Dario Argento was born on September 7, 1940, in Rome, Italy, to Salvatore Argento, a producer. He began his career as a young film critic for the Rome daily newspaper "Paese Sera". By the age of 20, he had already become a professional screenwriter, and in 1967, he joined Bernardo Bertolucci to write the screenplay for Sergio Leone's epic western "Once Upon A Time In The West".
Many screenplays later, Argento was signed by Goffredo Lombardo, head of the Italian film company Titanus, and made his directing debut in 1970 with "The Bird With The Crystal Plumage". His father, Salvatore, was the producer on all his films until "Deep Red", when Claudio Argento took over.
Throughout his career, Argento has been deeply involved in all aspects of filmmaking to ensure that his final products align with his original vision. He was one of the first directors to recognize the potential of the steady cam and the 'luma' crane, and he utilized them to their full potential. In fact, he even helped compose the music for his film "Suspiria".
Many of his films are considered to be part of the 'giallo' genre, which originated from the yellow covers of popular Italian horror and thriller paperbacks. Argento has directed a total of 15 films, including "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage", "The Cat O' Nine Tails", "Five Days In Milan", "Four Flies on Grey Velvet", "Profondo Rosso", "Suspiria", "Inferno", "Tenebrae", "Phenomena", "Opera", "Two Evil Eyes", "Trauma", "The Stendhal Syndrome", "Phantom of the Opera", and "Non ho sonno".
In addition to his work as a director, Argento has also been involved in producing and writing films for others, including his protégé Michele Soavi. He has also worked on three television series: "The Door of Darkness" in 1972, "Giallo" in 1987, and "Turno di notte" in 1988.
Argento has also been the subject of three documentaries: "Dario Argento's World of Horror", "Dario Argento: Master of Horror (Dario Argento's World of Horror 2)", and "The World of Dario Argento 3".
