George Sidney

Early life

George Sidney was born into show business. His father, Louis "L.K." Sidney, was the CEO of the Loew's Incorporated theatre chain. An only child, Sidney tagged along with his father to work at Radio City Music Hall, where he learned the art of choreography, set design, and stage direction. His mother, Hazael Mooney, was a Vaudeville star and half of the aquacade team The Mooney Sisters. Sidney attended Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, New York.

Sidney absorbed the world of New York City theatre and art. At five years old, he played the lead role in The Littlest Cowboy, a 1921 film with western actor Tom Mix.

After a reputed tryst with a showgirl from The Rockettes, Sidney was sent to Los Angeles at age 15 to learn the movie business from the studio head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Louis B. Mayer. Sidney began as a dog walker and errand boy in the early 1930s.

Early career at MGM

Sidney soon learned the art of editing at MGM, where he worked alongside aspiring film maker Fred Zinnemann, who went on to direct From Here to Eternity (1953) and Oklahoma! (1955). By the age of 20, Sidney directed many screen tests, with established and aspiring stars, including Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Judy Garland and Ava Gardner. Sidney honed his skills with 85 one-reel shorts—a genre that eventually gave him two Academy Awards with "Quicker'n A Wink" (1940) and "Of Pups and Puzzles" (1941).

In 1936 Sidney directed a short called Polo. The following year he made Pacific Paradise with Cliff Edwards, Sunday Night at the Trocadero with Reginald Denny and Billy Rose's Casa Mañana Revue.

In 1938 at age 22, Sidney directed the Our Gang short comedies, which MGM had acquired from Hal Roach upon George's recommendation. Sidney loathed the series and frequently claimed in interviews he was only seven years older than the oldest cast member. Actually, the oldest cast member, semi-regular Tommy Bond was ten years his junior; stars Carl Switzer and Spanky McFarland were eleven and twelve years younger, and the rest of the regular cast was under ten. His credits include Party Fever (1938), Men in Fright (1938), Football Romeo (1938), Practical Jokers (1938), Alfalfa's Aunt (1939), Practical Jokers (1939), Tiny Troubles (1939), Duel Personalities (1939), Clown Princes (1939), Cousin Wilbur (1939), Dog Daze (1939). He also did non Our Gang movies like Love on Tap (1939), Hollywood Hobbies (1939), Loews Christmas Greeting (the Hardy Family) (1939) and A Door Will Open (1940).

Sidney moved on to direct the Crime Does Not Pay series and popular Pete Smith specialties like What's Your IQ? (1940), Quicker'n a Wink (1940), Third Dimensional Murder (1941).

Sidney married drama coach Lillian "Burnsie" Burns Salzer (1903–1998) on 25 December 1941. He was fifteen years her junior. In the late 1970s, he married Jane Adler Robinson (d. 1991), who was the widow of actor Edward G. Robinson (1893–1973). In 1991, Sidney married actress, model and journalist Corinne Kegley Entratter, also known as Corinne Cole, who was the widow of showman and Las Vegas entrepreneur Jack Entratter. Sidney was a prolific photographer. He collected art and was an avid and skilled gardener. Sidney was a member of the Royal Horticultural Society. He died in Las Vegas, Nevada at age 85 from lymphoma on May 5, 2002. His remains was returned to California and entombed at Hillside Memorial Park.