Biography
Tom Gries (1922–1977) was an American television and film director, writer and producer. Born Thomas Stephen Gries in Chicago, Illinois, he was educated at Loyola Academy and Georgetown University. He began working in television in the 1950s as a writer and director on series including Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Rifleman, Route 66, Combat!, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Batman, I Spy and Mission: Impossible (1966).
Gries won Emmy Awards for directing episodes of East Side/West Side (1964) and the television film The Glass House (1972). In cinema he wrote and directed the western Will Penny (1967), which starred Charlton Heston and is often regarded as his most notable feature. He directed other films including 100 Rifles (1969), Number One (1969), The Hawaiians (1970), Breakout (1975), Breakheart Pass (1975) and the television film Helter Skelter (1976). His final film, The Greatest (1977), was completed after his death.
