Gus Trikonis

Director Gus Trikonis got his start in the business as an actor and dancer on Broadway. He moved into film and television acting in 1961. His best-known role was playing Rosalia's boyfriend Indio, the quiet member of the Sharks gang, in the classic film adaptation of the musical "West Side Story." In 1968, he was a dancer on the television special "The Ann-Margret Show," which marked his last on-screen performance. He made his directorial debut the next year, with a poorly received film about motorcycle racing, titled "Five the Hard Way" (sometimes called "The Sidehackers"). He didn't direct again until six years later, when he worked on two films--a comedy about an American cowboy who gets involved in illegal cockfighting in the Philippines, called "Supercock," and "The Swinging Barmaids," a gratuitous film about a serial killer who murders cocktail waitresses. In 1981, he directed the film "Take This Job and Shove It," which was based on the hit country song of the same name. That comedy picture, about blue-collar workers at a brewery, was his biggest mainstream hit. Trikonis had worked in television prior to this period, but afterward, he began to work almost exclusively in television. He directed a string of TV movies, as well as episodes of programs like the fantasy show "Beauty and the Beast," the sexy lifeguard drama "Baywatch," and "Viper," which was about a crime-fighting car.