Abraham Paul Wendkos (September 20, 1925 – November 12, 2009) was an American

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Early life and education

Wendkos was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to parents Simon Wendkos and Judith Wendkos. Wendkos served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and went to

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

on the

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

. Paul made his first feature, a documentary on a school for the blind called ''Dark Interlude'' in 1953.

Career

Columbia Pictures

Wendkos' first feature film was '' The Burglar''. His fluid camera technique caught the attention of the head of

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...

, who not only wished to distribute the film but put Wendkos under contract. Wendkos directed episodes of ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...

'' then did '' The Case Against Brooklyn'' (1958) for producer Charles Schneer at Columbia. He directed a TV movie for Columbia about

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...

, '' Bitter Heritage'' (1958) and episodes of '' Behind Closed Doors'' (1958). Wendkos directed another for Schneer, the war movie '' Tarawa Beachhead'' (1958). He had a massive hit with the teen film '' Gidget'' (1959) starring

Sandra Dee Sandra Dee (born Alexandra Zuck; April 23, 1942 – February 20, 2005) was an American actress. Dee began her career as a child model, working first in commercials and then film in her teenage years. Best known for her portrayal of ingénues ...

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film ''PT 109 (film), PT 109'', a ...

and James Darren. '' Face of a Fugitive'' (1959) was a Western for Schneer, and ''

Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the battle ...

'' (1959) was a war movie with Robertson. Wendkos went back to TV for '' Five Fingers'', ''

Tightrope Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...

'', '' Law of the Plainsman'', '' Alcoa Theatre'', '' Two Faces West'', and '' Route 66''. He returned to Columbia for two youth movies with Darren and Michael Callan, '' Because They're Young'' (1960) and '' Gidget Goes Hawaiian'' (1961). He did a drama, '' Angel Baby'' (1961) with George Hamilton, then made '' Gidget Goes to Rome'' (1962). Wendkos later directed episodes of ''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama television series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member ...

'', '' Dr. Kildare'', ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...

'', ''

Mr. Novak ''Mr. Novak'' is an American television drama (film and television), drama television series starring James Franciscus in the title role as a high school teacher. The series aired on NBC for two seasons, from 1963 to 1965. It won a Peabody Award ...

'', '' Honey West'', '' The Big Valley'', '' I Spy'', and '' The Invaders''. He also directed the pilot for the original '' Hawaii Five-O''. When Wendkos worked on ''I Spy'', he was dismissed from the production when the producers deemed the episodes he had filmed to have been too "arty". 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 two westerns set in Mexico (but filmed in Spain), '' Guns of the Magnificent Seven'' and '' Cannon for Cordoba''. He also made the first and only feature film for

Quinn Martin Quinn Martin (born Irwin Martin Cohn; May 22, 1922 – September 5, 1987) was an American television producer. He had at least one television series running in prime time every year for 21 straight years (from 1959 to 1980). Martin is a memb ...

, '' The Mephisto Waltz''.

Later career

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. It picked up five Emmy nominations, including one for Wendkos. He also directed 90-minute episodes of the

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

legal drama and murder mystery series '' Hawkins'', which aired on an every-third-week basis as part of the CBS " wheel series" '' The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies''.

Personal life

Wendkos married Ruth Bernat on March 1, 1953, and had one son, Jordan Elkan Wendkos. Ruth died in June 1978. In 1984, Wendkos married Lin Bolen, former NBC vice president and producer; they lived in Malibu,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

until his death. Wendkos was ill for several years following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. He died on November 12, 2009, in Malibu.Frank Swertlow
''The Wrap'' —'Gidget' Director Paul Wendkos Dies
(Retrieved 2009-11-13) He was survived by his son, Jordan, granddaughter, Justine Wendkos, and his wife, Lin Bolen Wendkos.

References

Additional sources

* ''The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968'', by

Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Kat ...

* ''The American Vein: Directors and Directions in Television'' by Christopher Wicking and Tise Vahimagi (Talisman Books (England) / E.P. Dutton (United States), 1979) * *

External links

*
Moviefone (brief bio)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wendkos, Paul 1925 births 2009 deaths Artists from Philadelphia Military personnel from Philadelphia Columbia University alumni United States Navy sailors United States Navy personnel of World War II Film directors from Los Angeles