George Sidney (October 4, 1916 – May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He was one of the founders of Hanna-Barbera, along with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. He also directed Anchors Aweigh, which starred Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse.
Biography[]
Acting[]
Sidney was born to a Hungarian-Jewish family in Long Island City, New York. Both of Sidney's parents were actors, and Sidney began acting as a child on stage and in silent films. He worked as a musician.
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 gain a job at MGM as a messenger. 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 Switzer’s brother Harold Switzer.
After a year of working on Our Gang shorts, Sidney moved on to the Crime Does Not Pay 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).