Gus Trikonis
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Gus Trikonis was a very efficient and underrated director of
delightfully down-and-dirty '70s drive-in, low-budget, exploitation fare.
Born on November 21, 1937, in New York City, Trikonis began his show
business career as both an actor and a dancer in Broadway plays and
movies. His most popular film role was as Indio in the magnificent
musical classic
West Side Story (1961). He made
his debut as director in 1969 with the biker flick
Five the Hard Way (1969),
following it with the pleasingly silly soft-core romp
The Student Body (1976) and
the marvelously lively psycho trash gem
The Swinging Barmaids (1975).
The first-rate
Nashville Girl (1976) and the
immensely entertaining
Lutte au finish (1977)
were two superior entries in the then-fashionable redneck picture
sub-genre. Le couloir de la mort (1978) was
likewise a strong and scary haunted house horror item. The hilariously
rowdy blue collar comedy
Ca passe ou ça casse (1981)
was Trikonis' biggest mainstream success, while the extremely
fun and funky
Pris au piège (1983)
was a nifty blend of both the jungle action adventure and monster
horror movie genres. By the early '80s Trikonis began directing mostly
for television. He did a bunch of made-for-TV pictures and directed
episodes of such TV shows as
Alerte à Malibu (1989),
Hercule (1995),
Code Quantum (1989),
Mitch Buchannon (1995),
L'homme à la Rolls (1994),
L'as de la crime (1991),
Rick Hunter (1984),
Un flic dans la mafia (1987),
Flash (1990) and
La cinquième dimension (1985).
Trikonis was married to screen megastar Goldie Hawn. Outside of acting and directing, Trikonis has done
several oil paintings.
