Sergio Leone, a cinematic visionary, was born into the world of film, being the son of Roberto Roberti, also known as Vincenzo Leone, a pioneer in Italy's cinema industry, and actress Bice Valerian. As a teenager, Leone began his journey in the film industry by working as an assistant director to both Italian and American directors, who were working on projects in Italy, primarily biblical and Roman epics that were highly popular at the time.
As the 1950s drew to a close, Leone started writing screenplays and eventually transitioned to directing, taking over the reins of The Last Days of Pompeii in 1959 after the original director fell ill. His first solo feature film, The Colossus of Rhodes, released in 1961, was a traditional Roman epic, but his second feature, A Fistful of Dollars, released in 1964, was a groundbreaking film that revolutionized the Western genre. The film was a shameless remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, and it catapulted Clint Eastwood to stardom, despite Leone's initial desire to cast Henry Fonda or Charles Bronson, who were unavailable due to budget constraints.
The success of A Fistful of Dollars was followed by two sequels, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which were shot on higher budgets and were even more successful. However, Leone's masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West, released in 1968, was met with disappointment at the US box office due to Paramount Pictures' drastic editing and alterations.
