George Sidney
George Sidney | |
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![]() Sidney while filming Jupiter's Darling | |
Born | Long Island City, New York, United States | 4 October 1916
Died | 5 May 2002 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | (aged 85)
Occupation | Film director, Film producer |
Years active | 1937–1967 |
Spouse(s) | Lillian Burns (divorced) Jane Robinson (1973–1991) Corinne Cole (1991–2002) |
George Sidney (October 4, 1916 – May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Sidney was born to a Hungarian-Jewish family[1] in Long Island City, New York. Both Sidney's parents were actors, and Sidney began acting as a child on stage and in silent films. He worked as a musician.[2]
Director of shorts at MGM[]
Sidney's father, Louis K Sidney, was an executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who helped his son in his late teens gained a job at MGM as a messenger.[3] He moved into directing screen tests and second unit as well as taking stills.
Sidney was assigned to direct the Our Gang comedies, which MGM had just acquired from Hal Roach, in 1938. Sidney, then age 21, was the youngest Our Gang senior director the series had, and was only nine years older than the eldest Our Gang kid, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer's brother Harold Switzer.
After a year of working on Our Gang shorts, Sidney moved on to the series and popular Pete Smith specialties.
Early features[]
Sidney graduated to directing features with Free and Easy (1941). He followed it with Pacific Rendezvous (1942) and Pilot No. 5 (1942). He then worked his way into directing large scale musicals such as The Harvey Girls (1946), The Three Musketeers (1948), Annie Get Your Gun (1950), and Kiss Me Kate (1953).
George Sidney behind Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner on the set of Cass Timberlane (1947)
Esther Williams with George Sidney in glass bottom boat during filming of "Jupiter's Darling" at Silver Springs.
Columbia[]
Sidney left MGM to make The Eddy Duchin Story (1956) at Columbia Pictures where he made his base for the next decade for such films as Jeanne Eagels (1957), Pal Joey (1957), Who Was That Lady? (1960), Pepe (1960), and Bye Bye Birdie (1963).
He returned to MGM to film A Ticklish Affair (1963) and Elvis Presley's Viva Las Vegas (1964). His last film was Half a Sixpence (1967).
Animation[]
Sidney became good friends with MGM animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Hanna and Barbera's Jerry Mouse appeared alongside Gene Kelly in Sidney's film Anchors Aweigh (1945). After MGM closed its animation studio in 1958, Sidney helped Hanna and Barbera form a deal with Screen Gems, the television division of Columbia Pictures, to form the successful television animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions, and was a shareholder in the company. Sidney later featured Hanna-Barbera's Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Huckleberry Hound, and Yogi Bear in Bye Bye Birdie (1963).
In 1961, Sidney appeared as himself, along with the canine Lassie in the episode "The Stones Go to Hollywood" of the sitcom The Donna Reed Show. The episode plugged Sidney's then current feature film Pepe, in which Donna Reed made a cameo.
Awards[]
Sidney was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award four times, starting with the lush Technicolor remake of Show Boat. In 1958 he was presented with a Golden Globe Award for Best World Entertainment through Musical Films. For his work in the art of cinema, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1966, Variety listed Sidney as the director with the most films earning rentals of $4 million or more in the United States and Canada with 12 films on the list with a total rental of $57.25 million. Based on the rentals listed for other directors, his ranking was fourth based on total rentals. His higher performing films were Bye Bye Birdie, The Eddy Duchin Story, Show Boat, Pepe, Pal Joey, Viva Las Vegas, Annie Get Your Gun, Anchors Aweigh, The Harvey Girls, The Three Musketeers, Cass Timberlane, and Holiday in Mexico.[4] He was ranked second 11 years later.[5]
Personal life[]
He was married three times: first to Lillian Burns (divorced), then to Jane Robinson (1973–1991), and finally to Corinne Cole (1991–2002) until his death from complications of lymphoma in Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of 85.
Awards and nominations[]
Year | Group | Award | Film | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1952 | Directors Guild of America | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | Show Boat | Nominated |
1953 | Directors Guild of America | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | Scaramouche | Nominated |
1954 | Directors Guild of America | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | Young Bess | Nominated |
1957 | Directors Guild of America | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | The Eddy Duchin Story | Nominated |
1959 | Directors Guild of America | DGA Honorary Life Member Award | Won | |
1986 | Directors Guild of America | Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award | Won | |
1998 | Directors Guild of America | President's Award | Won | |
1995 | Golden Apple Award | Louella Parsons Award | Won | |
1958 | Golden Globe Award | Best World Entertainment Through Musical Films | Won | |
1993 | San Luis Obispo International Film Festival | King Vidor Memorial Award | Won |
Partial filmography[]
- Pilot #5 (1943)
- Thousands Cheer (1943)
- Bathing Beauty (1944)
- Anchors Aweigh (1945)
- Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
- The Harvey Girls (1946)
- Holiday in Mexico (1946)
- Cass Timberlane (1947)
- The Three Musketeers (1948)
- The Red Danube (1949)
- Key to the City (1950)
- Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
- Show Boat (1951)
- Scaramouche (1952)
- Young Bess (1953)
- Kiss Me Kate (1953)
- Jupiter's Darling (1955)
- The Eddy Duchin Story (1956)
- Jeanne Eagels (1957)
- Pal Joey (1957)
- Pepe (1960)
- Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
- A Ticklish Affair (1963)
- Viva Las Vegas (1964)
- The Swinger (1966)
- Half a Sixpence (1967)
Further reading[]
- Monder, Eric (1994). George Sidney:a Bio-Bibliography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313284571.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Sidney. |
References[]
- ^ Cones, John (April 2015). Motion Picture Biographies: The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures. p. 62. ISBN 9781628941166.
- ^ Davis p 60-62
- ^ Bergan, Ronald (May 7, 2002). "George Sidney". The Guardian. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "Star, Producer, Director Identification with All-Time Top-Grossing Features". Variety. January 5, 1966. p. 3.
- ^ "Stevenson preps his 20th Disney film in 21 years". Daily Variety. July 14, 1977. p. 1.
- 1916 births
- American Jews
- 2002 deaths
- Film producers from New York (state)
- Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
- Presidents of the Directors Guild of America
- Deaths from lymphoma
- People from Long Island City, Queens
- Deaths from cancer in Nevada
- Activists from New York (state)
- Film directors from New York City