Siegel, Don(ald) (1912–1991)

US film director. He specialized in thrillers, westerns, and police dramas. Two of his low-budget features, the prison film Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) and the science fiction story Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), are widely recognized for transcending their lack of resources.

Siegel moved on to bigger budgets, but retained his taut, acerbic view of life in such films as the Clint Eastwood vehicles Coogan's Bluff (1969), and The Beguiled and Dirty Harry (both 1971).

He was educated at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England. He worked as an editor and became known for his montage work at Warner Studio, with Casablanca (1942) representing the most celebrated example. He won Academy Awards for his early short films Star in the Night and Hitler Lives? (both 1945).