BIO

Sidney Franklin was born Sidney Arnold Franklin in San Francisco, California in 1893. His older brother was the film director Chester M. Franklin.

His film debut was in 1913 for Selig Polyscope, at the age of 20. It was the same studio his brother was then employed as an actor. The brothers decided to join forces in 1915 as co-directors, making their directorial debut for Reliance Film.   They continued to work together as co-directors through 1918, completing more than 25 short-reels and 9 feature films.

Franklin began working as a director for the actress Norma Talmadge in 1918 and her sister, the actress Constance Talmadge in 1920 and completed more than 15 star-vehicles for them through 1926.   He was then hired by publisher William Randolph Hearst to direct the films of his paramour, the actress Marion Davies.   Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) co-produced the films and it was through this connection that Franklin began a relationship with MGM that would continue until his retirement in 1957.

With MGM, Franklin received an Academy Award nomination for directing The Good Earth (1937).   Mrs. Miniver (1942) won the Oscar for Outstanding Motion Picture and another three films - Random Harvest (1942), Madame Curie (1943) and The Yearling (1946) received Outstanding Motion Picture nominations with Franklin at the helm as producer.

After directing or producing more than 70 films, he retired in 1957.

Franklin married three times:

1. Ann Denitz, 1916-1933, divorced. The couple raised one son.
2. Ruth Helms, actress, 1937-1960, widowed.
3. Enid Bennett, actress, 1963-1969, widowed.

He died of a heart attack in Santa Monica, California, in 1972.   He was 79 years old.

NOTED FILMS