Andy Sidaris

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Andrew W. "Andy" Sidaris (February 20, 1931 – March 7, 2007) was an American television film director, producer, actor, and screen writer.

Contents 1 Biography 2 The Triple B Series 3 Other works 3.1 Director & writer 3.2 Director only 3.3 Actor 3.4 M*A*S*H 3.5 Author 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Sidaris was born in Chicago. He grew up in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish, in far northwestern Louisiana. He graduated from C.E. Byrd High School, and went to Southern Methodist University in Dallas. His family was active in city sports circles. His brother Chris W. Sidaris (1927-2000), was the former director of the Shreveport Parks and Recreation Department. Linda Vozzella of Shreveport, Sidaris' niece, told the Shreveport Times that Sidaris considered Shreveport to have "always [been] his home town, and Byrd was very special to him. Uncle Andy would come to Shreveport once or twice a year, and he came to visit us a few weeks ago."

Sidaris was best known for his Bullets, Bombs, and Babes series of B-movies produced between 1985 and 1998. These films featured a rotating "stock company" of actors mostly made up of Playboy Playmates and Penthouse "Pets", including Julie Strain, Dona Speir, Hope Marie Carlton, Cynthia Brimhall, Roberta Vasquez, Julie K. Smith, Shae Marks, and Wendy Hamilton. Several of his films were done wholly or largely in Shreveport, and Sidaris used local actors, or actors with local ties. This happened a full decade before other filmakers discovered the advantages of filming in Shreveport.

Before the B-movies, Sidaris was a pioneer in sports television. He directed coverage of hundreds of football and basketball games, Olympic events, and special programs and won seven Emmy awards for his work in the field. His best known work was with ABC's Wide World of Sports; he was the show's first director, and continued in that post for 25 years.

Sidaris pioneered what he called the "honey shot", close-ups of cheerleaders and pretty girls in the stands at sporting events. He won an Emmy Award in 1969 for directing the Summer Olympics.

Sidaris branched out to dramatic television in the 1970s, having directed episodes of programs like Gemini Man (1976), CBS's Kojak (mid-1970s), ABC's The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (late-1970s) and ABC's Monday Night Football.

Then he expanded into film, specializing in action flicks featuring gun-toting Playboy Playmates with titles like Fit to Kill and Savage Beach. Most of Sidaris' "Triple B" series (later given the title L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies) focused on the adventures of a team of secret agents and were mostly filmed in Hawaii. Several entries in the series were only produced by him and were written and directed by others. Although the series featured recurring characters, continuity between films was not a priority and it was common for an actress who played a villain (and was killed off) in one film to re-appear in a subsequent film as a hero.

With his wife, Arlene T. Sidaris (born ca. 1942) as his production partner, Sidaris made twelve films.

Sidaris resided in Beverly Hills with Arlene until his death from throat cancer.

[edit] The Triple B Series

Written and directed by Andy Sidaris unless otherwise noted.

1. Malibu Express (1985) - also producer
2. Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987)
3. Picasso Trigger (1988)
4. Savage Beach (1989) - also producer
5. Guns (1990)
6. Do or Die (1991)
7. Hard Hunted (1992) - also producer
8. Fit to Kill (1993)
9. Enemy Gold (1993) - producer only
10. The Dallas Connection - executive producer only
11. Day of the Warrior (1996)
12. L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies: Return to Savage Beach (1998)

[edit] Other works

[edit] Director & writer

• Stacey (1973) (aka Stacey and Her Gangbusters) (and Producer)
• Seven (1979) (aka Sevano's Seven) (also producer

[edit] Director only

• ABC's Wide World of Sports (1961-1986)
• The Racing Scene (1969)

[edit] Actor

• Two-Minute Warning (1976)
• The Bare Wench Project (2000) as Dick Bigdickian
• The Bare Wench Project 2: Scared Topless (2001) as Dick Bigdickian
• The Bare Wench Project 3: Nymphs of Mystery Mountain

[edit] M*A*S*H

In addition, the Internet Movie Database lists Sidaris as the uncredited football choreographer for the 1970 film, M*A*S*H.

[edit] Author

Sidaris, Andy & Arlene. Bullets, Bombs, and Babes: The Films of Andy Sidaris, Heavy Metal Press. August 2003.

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Andy Sidaris at the Internet Movie Database
• Media Orchard interview (July 2006)
• DVD Talk - Interview by G. Noel Gross (October 2002)
• Digitally Obsessed - Interview by Rich Rosell
• Associated Press Former 'Wide World of Sports' director dead at 76
• [1]
• [2] -- Sidaris obituary, Shreveport Times