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Sidney Lanfield

Once upon a time, future film and TV directors began their careers in Vaudeville rather than at film school or in a gopher role on a live set. Sidney Lanfield is part of that bygone era, graduating from the hallowed halls of anything goes nickel-and-dime entertainment to the job of Hollywood joke writer in 1926. The Chicago native finally got his shot at directing in 1930, just as the silent era was giving way to the talkies, and eventually hitched a ride on the Bob Hope caravan, collaborating numerous times with the master of the wise crack. However, one of Lanfield's most successful films was actually the 1939 feature "The Hound of the Baskervilles," starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. After World War II, Lanfield eventually shifted to TV directing, and all those years later, he was a proud member of the "McHale's Navy"production crew, directing 54 episodes from 1962 to 1964. He moved on to another successful series, "The Addams Family," before finally retiring in 1967. From 1927 until his death in 1972, Lanfield was married to film actress Shirley Mason.