18 Facts About Paul Wendkos

Abraham Paul Wendkos was an American television and film director.

Paul Wendkos made his first feature, a documentary on a school for the blind called Dark Interlude in 1953.

Paul Wendkos directed episodes of Playhouse 90 then did The Case Against Brooklyn for producer Charles Schneer at Columbia.

Paul Wendkos directed a TV movie for Columbia about Jesse James, Bitter Heritage and episodes of Behind Closed Doors.

Paul Wendkos directed another for Schneer, the war movie Tarawa Beachhead.

Paul Wendkos had a massive hit with the teen film Gidget starring Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson and James Darren.

Paul Wendkos went back to TV for Five Fingers, Tightrope, Law of the Plainsman, Alcoa Theatre, Two Faces West, and Route 66.

Paul Wendkos returned to Columbia for two youth movies with Darren and Michael Callan, Because They're Young and Gidget Goes Hawaiian.

Paul Wendkos did a drama, Angel Baby with George Hamilton, then made Gidget Goes to Rome.

Paul Wendkos later directed episodes of Ben Casey, Dr Kildare, The Rifleman, Mr Novak, Honey West, The Big Valley, I Spy, and The Invaders.

Paul Wendkos directed the pilot for the original Hawaii Five-O.

When Paul Wendkos worked on I Spy, he was dismissed from the production when the producers deemed the episodes he had filmed to have been too "arty".

In 1968 Paul Wendkos signed a five-picture contract with Mirisch Productions, beginning with the war films Attack on the Iron Coast and Hell Boats, followed by two westerns set in Mexico, Guns of the Magnificent Seven and Cannon for Cordoba.

Paul Wendkos made the first and only feature film for Quinn Martin, The Mephisto Waltz.

Paul Wendkos directed 90-minute episodes of the James Stewart legal drama and murder mystery series Hawkins, which aired on an every-third-week basis as part of the CBS "wheel series" The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies.

Paul Wendkos married Ruth Bernat on March 1,1953, and had one son, Jordan Elkan Paul Wendkos.

In 1984, Paul Wendkos married Lin Bolen, former NBC vice president and producer; they lived in Malibu, California until his death.

Paul Wendkos was survived by his son, Jordan, granddaughter, Justine Wendkos, and his wife, Lin Bolen Wendkos.