Thomas Stephen Gries (December 20, 1922 â€" January 3, 1977) was an
American TV and film director, writer, and film producer.Gries was
born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother Ruth later remarried to jazz
musician Muggsy Spanier. Educated at the Loyola Academy and Georgetown
University.Gries began working in TV in the 1950s as a writer and
director. His work can be seen on such popular programs as Bronco,
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, and
Batman among many others. Gries won Emmy Awards for his direction on
East Side/West Side in 1964 and The Glass House in 1972.In the cinema,
Gries both wrote and directed the adventure film Serpent Island (1954)
starring Sonny Tufts, and the Korean War film Hell's Horizon (1955)
starring John Ireland. Between television directing gigs, Gries helmed
The Girl in the Woods, a 1958 drama starring Forrest Tucker and Barton
MacLane. Gries both wrote the screenplay and directed the 1959 Jack
Buetel western Mustang! before concentrating his efforts exclusively
on television for almost a decade. In a triumphant return to cinema,
Tom Gries wrote and directed what is generally acknowledged to be his
masterpiece in either medium, the 1968 western Will Penny, which
starred Charlton Heston in the title role. It was based on an episode
of the TV series The Westerner that Gries wrote and directed in 1960,
entitled "Line Camp."
American TV and film director, writer, and film producer.Gries was
born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother Ruth later remarried to jazz
musician Muggsy Spanier. Educated at the Loyola Academy and Georgetown
University.Gries began working in TV in the 1950s as a writer and
director. His work can be seen on such popular programs as Bronco,
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, and
Batman among many others. Gries won Emmy Awards for his direction on
East Side/West Side in 1964 and The Glass House in 1972.In the cinema,
Gries both wrote and directed the adventure film Serpent Island (1954)
starring Sonny Tufts, and the Korean War film Hell's Horizon (1955)
starring John Ireland. Between television directing gigs, Gries helmed
The Girl in the Woods, a 1958 drama starring Forrest Tucker and Barton
MacLane. Gries both wrote the screenplay and directed the 1959 Jack
Buetel western Mustang! before concentrating his efforts exclusively
on television for almost a decade. In a triumphant return to cinema,
Tom Gries wrote and directed what is generally acknowledged to be his
masterpiece in either medium, the 1968 western Will Penny, which
starred Charlton Heston in the title role. It was based on an episode
of the TV series The Westerner that Gries wrote and directed in 1960,
entitled "Line Camp."
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