Paul Wendkos
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- September 20, 1925
- Died
- November 12, 2009 (aged 84)
- Birthplace
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Paul Wendkos (September 20, 1922; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 12, 2009; Malibu, California) was an American television and film director. Following wartime service in the US Navy and attending Columbia University on the GI Bill Wendkos made his first feature, a documentary on a school for the blind called Dark Interlude in 1953. Wendkos's first feature film was The Burglar . Wendkos's fluid camera technique caught the attention of the head of Columbia Pictures chief Harry Cohn who not only wished to distribute the film, but put Wendkos on a contract. A variety of films followed for Columbia beginning with the hard-hitting crime drama The Case Against Brooklyn, two suspenseful war dramas Tarawa Beachhead and Battle of the Coral Sea, the youth-oriented Gidget and two sequels Gidget Goes Hawaiian, Gidget Goes to Rome as well as Because They're Young. Wendkos also directed many episodes of Playhouse 90, Alcoa Theatre, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, Route 66, The Rifleman, Mr. Novak, Honey West, The Big Valley, I Spy, The Invaders and Hawaii Five-O. With I Spy, Wendkos filmed several interesting episodes but was deemed too "arty" by the producers and let go. In 1968 Wendkos signed a five picture contract with Mirisch Productions beginning with the war films Attack on the Iron Coast and Hell Boats followed by Westerns set in Mexico but filmed in SpainGuns of the Magnificent Seven and Cannon for Cordoba. He also made the first feature film for Quinn Martin, The Mephisto Waltz. From 1970 until his retirement in 1999, Wendkos specialized in made-for-television movies. One of these was The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story (1988), based on a TWA hijacking in 1985, picked up five Emmy nominations, including one for Wendkos. Wendkos was cited by film critic Andrew Sarris in his book The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929-1968. He is also cited, along with many other directors, in The American Vein: Directors and Directions in Television by Christopher Wicking and Tise Vahimagi, Talisman Books (England), 1979, and E.P. Dutton (United States), 1979; Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 79-52675. Wendkos married Ruth Bernat on March 1, 1953 and had one son, Jordan Elkan Wendkos. Ruth died in June, 1978. Wendkos married Lin Bolen, Former NBC VP & Producer in 1983 and they lived together happily in Malibu, California until his death. He is survived by his son, Jordan, granddaughter, Justine Wendkos, and his wife Lin Bolen Wendkos. Wendkos was ill for several years following a stroke. He died on November 12, 2009 in Malibu, California. Description above from the Wikipedia article Paul Wendkos, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
Different
Movie · Director
Nobody Lives Forever
Movie · Director
A Wing and a Prayer
Movie · Director
A Match Made in Heaven
Movie · Director
Message from Nam
Movie · Director
Bloodlines: Murder in the Family
Movie · Director
Trial: The Price of Passion
Movie · Director
The Chase
Movie · Director
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Movie · Director
White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd
Movie · Director
Good Cops, Bad Cops
Movie · Director
Blind Faith
TV · Director · 2 eps
From the Dead of Night
Movie · Director
Cross of Fire
TV · Director · 2 eps
The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story
Movie · Director
The Great Escape II: The Untold Story
Movie · Director
The Great Escape II: The Untold Story
TV · Director · 1 ep
Six Against the Rock
Movie · Director
Right to Die
Movie · Director
Sister Margaret and the Saturday Night Ladies
Movie · Director
Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife
Movie · Director
Rage of Angels: The Story Continues
Movie · Director
Rage of Angels: The Story Continues
TV · Director · 2 eps
The Bad Seed
Movie · Director
Picking Up the Pieces
Movie · Director
The Execution
Movie · Director
Scorned and Swindled
Movie · Director
Celebrity
TV · Director · 3 eps
Cocaine: One Man's Seduction
Movie · Director
Intimate Agony
Movie · Director
The Awakening of Candra
Movie · Director
Farrell: For the People
Movie · Director
The Five of Me
Movie · Director
Golden Gate
Movie · Director
The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd
Movie · Director
A Cry for Love
Movie · Director
Act of Violence
Movie · Director
The Ordeal of Patty Hearst
Movie · Director
Betrayal
Movie · Director
A Woman Called Moses
TV · Director · 2 eps
Good Against Evil
Movie · Director
The Death of Richie
Movie · Director
A Little Game
Movie · Director
Secrets
Movie · Director
79 Park Avenue
TV · Director · 3 eps
Special Delivery
Movie · Director
The Legend of Lizzie Borden
Movie · Director
Death Among Friends
Movie · Director
The Underground Man
Movie · Director
Honor Thy Father
Movie · Director
Terror on the Beach
Movie · Director
Hawkins
TV · Director · 3 eps
Haunts of the Very Rich
Movie · Director
The Strangers in 7A
Movie · Director
The Delphi Bureau: The Merchant of Death Assignment
Movie · Director
Footsteps
Movie · Director
The Woman I Love
Movie · Director
The Family Rico
Movie · Director
The Mephisto Waltz
Movie · Director
A Death of Innocence
Movie · Director
Travis Logan, D.A.
Movie · Director
A Tattered Web
Movie · Director
The Brotherhood of the Bell
Movie · Director
Cannon for Cordoba
Movie · Director
Hell Boats
Movie · Director
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Movie · Director
Fear No Evil
Movie · Director
Hawaii Five-O
TV · Director · 2 eps
Attack on the Iron Coast
Movie · Director
Cocoon
Movie · Director
The Invaders
TV · Director · 9 eps
Johnny Tiger
Movie · Director
Honey West
TV · Director · 3 eps
The F.B.I.
TV · Director · 1 ep
Gidget Goes to Rome
Movie · Director
Recoil
Movie · Director
The Eleventh Hour
TV · Director · 1 ep
Gidget Goes Hawaiian
Movie · Director
Angel Baby
Movie · Director
Five Fingers : The Temple of the Swinging Doll
Movie · Director
Because They're Young
Movie · Director
Gidget
Movie · Director
Face of a Fugitive
Movie · Director
Battle of the Coral Sea
Movie · Director
Law of the Plainsman
TV · Director · 2 eps
The Case Against Brooklyn
Movie · Director
Tarawa Beachhead
Movie · Director
Bitter Heritage
Movie · Director
Behind Closed Doors
TV · Director · 2 eps
The Burglar
Movie · Director