---
name: "Tom Gries"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/tom-gries"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "20 December 1922"
died: "3 January 1977"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T15:57:37.814123+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Tom Gries

Director. Born 20 December 1922 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Died 3 January 1977.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 20 December 1922, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- **Died:** 3 January 1977
- **Also known as:** Thomas Stephen Gries, Will Penny

## 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.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, themoviedb.org.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Mission: Impossible* (1966), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/mission-impossible-1966.md)

## Also known for

- *Batman* (1966), Director
- *Breakheart Pass* (1975), Director
- *Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea* (1964), Director
- *Will Penny* (1967), Director, Writer
- *Combat!* (1962), Director
- *Breakout* (1975), Director
- *100 Rifles* (1969), Director, Screenplay
- *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/tom-gries