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Tom Gries | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Stephen Gries[1] December 20, 1922 |
| Died | (aged 54) |
| Occupation(s) | Director, writer, producer |
| Spouse | Mary Eleanor Munday |
| Children | Jon Gries (son) Peter Gries (son) Muggsy Spanier (stepfather) |
Thomas Stephen "Tom" Gries (December 20, 1922 – January 3, 1977)[2][citation needed] was an American TV and film director, writer, and film producer.
Gries was born inChicago,Illinois, the son of Ruth Marie (Gluck), an actress and advertising copywriter, and Joseph Charles Gries.[3] His mother later remarried to jazz musicianMuggsy Spanier, who became stepfather to Ruth's sons.[4][full citation needed] Tom Gries was educated at theLoyola Academy andGeorgetown University.
Gries began working in TV in the 1950s as a writer and director. His work can be seen on such popular programs asBronco,Wanted: Dead or Alive,The Westerner,The Rifleman,Checkmate,Cain's Hundred,East Side/West Side,Route 66,Stoney Burke,Combat!,The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,Honey West,I Spy,Mission: Impossible, andBatman among many others. Gries wonEmmy Awards for his direction onEast Side/West Side in 1964 andThe Glass House in 1972.
In the cinema, Gries both wrote and directed the adventure filmSerpent Island (1954) starringSonny Tufts, and theKorean War filmHell's Horizon (1955) starringJohn Ireland. Between television directing gigs, Gries helmedGirl in the Woods, a 1958 drama starringForrest Tucker andBarton MacLane.
Gries both wrote the screenplay and directed the 1959Jack Buetel westernMustang! before concentrating his efforts exclusively on television for almost a decade. In a triumphant return to cinema, Gries wrote and directed what is generally acknowledged to be hismasterpiece in either medium, the 1968 westernWill Penny, which starredCharlton Heston in the title role. It was based on an episode of the TV seriesThe Westerner that Gries wrote and directed in 1960, entitled "Line Camp".
In 1966, Gries created the popular action-adventure seriesThe Rat Patrol. Gries wrote and directed the pilot episode, "The Chase of Fire Raid." The 1966–68 series boasts 56 thirty-minute, color episodes produced over the span of its two-season run on ABC. The series focused on the oft-overlookedNorth African Campaign and episodes invariably pit the ragtag Rat Patrol — a four-man Allied force led byChristopher George as Sgt. Sam Troy — against the GermanAfrika Korps led by Captain Hans Dietrich, played byEric Braeden (then still using his original name Hans Gudegast).
Gries subsequently made two other films with Heston: the 1969 gridiron dramaNumber One and the 1970 dramaThe Hawaiians, which was based onJames Michener's sprawling 1959 novel,Hawaii (not to be confused with the1966 film based on a section of the same book). In 1969, Gries co-wrote and directedJim Brown,Burt Reynolds, andRaquel Welch in the controversial western100 Rifles.
In the early 1970s Gries directed a variety of films, from the 1970Jason Robards andKatharine Ross May–December romance dramaFools to the 1971 science-fiction telefilmEarth II starringGary Lockwood andAnthony Franciosa. In 1973, Gries directed the crime-thrillerLady Ice, which starredDonald Sutherland,Jennifer O'Neill,Robert Duvall andEric Braeden. Gries, who had directedCharles Bronson in a 1961 episode ofCain's Hundred ("Dead Weight: Dave Braddock"), helmed two back-to-back Bronson films in 1975:Breakout andBreakheart Pass.
Gries' 1970s work failed, however, to earn the critical acclaim that welcomedWill Penny. The most successful of his later projects wasHelter Skelter, a 1976 TV movie based onVincent Bugliosi's 1974 true-crime book detailing the crimes and trials of the notoriousCharles Manson Family.
During post-production on his final filmThe Greatest (1977), a biography of boxerMuhammad Ali (in which Ali also played himself), Gries collapsed and died of aheart attack while playing tennis. He was 54 years old.
He is the father of actor and directorJon Gries (who appeared under the name Jon Francis in the filmWill Penny as a child actor) and the brother of Buddy Charles a/k/a Charles Joseph Gries, who was a pop and jazz vocalist and pianist in Chicago.[5][full citation needed]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | The Bushwhackers | No | Yes | No |
| 1953 | Donovan's Brain | No | No | Yes |
| 1954 | Hunters of the Deep (Documentary) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Serpent Island | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1955 | King Dinosaur | No | Yes | No |
| Hell's Horizon | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1958 | Girl in the Woods | Yes | No | No |
| 1959 | Mustang! | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1968 | Will Penny | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1969 | 100 Rifles | Yes | Yes | No |
| Number One | Yes | No | No | |
| 1970 | The Hawaiians | Yes | No | No |
| Fools | Yes | No | No | |
| 1971 | Earth II | Yes | No | No |
| 1972 | Michael O'Hara the Fourth | No | Yes | Yes |
| The Glass House | Yes | No | No | |
| Journey Through Rosebud | Yes | No | No | |
| 1973 | The Connection | Yes | No | No |
| Call to Danger | Yes | No | No | |
| Lady Ice | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 1974 | The Migrants | Yes | No | Yes |
| The Healers | Yes | No | No | |
| 1975 | Breakout | Yes | No | No |
| Breakheart Pass | Yes | No | No | |
| 1976 | Helter Skelter | Yes | No | Yes |
| 1977 | The Greatest | Yes | No | No |
