Joseph H. Lewis

Biography: A camera assistant at MGM, Lewis became an editor at Republic in the mid '30s. After some second-unit directing, he helmed his first feature in 1937, Navy Spy (co-directed with Crane Wilbur). Lewis made low-budget westerns and actioners, hitting his stride with his noirs of the '40s and '50s, most notably My Name is Julia Ross and The Big Combo. His landmark crime film Gun Crazy, an exploration of the Bonnie-and-Clyde legend, showed Lewis to be a major stylist. He ended his career with a string of westerns, and is fondly regarded for his last film, Terror in a Texas Town, with Swedish immigrant Sterling Hayden fighting a showdown armed only with a harpoon. Lewis directed for television, including Gunsmoke and The Rifleman, before he retired in the early '60s.