FURIE, SIDNEY J.

FURIE, SIDNEY J. (1933– ), Canadian film producer-director-writer. Toronto-born Furie traces his career inspiration back to Captains Courageous, which he saw in 1937 at the age of four. He went to Pittsburgh to train in directing and scriptwriting at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, and in 1954 joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a writer and director, creating the series Hudson's Bay. His first feature efforts, A Dangerous Age (1957) and A Cool Sound from Hell (1958), were teenage rebellion films. Furie immigrated to England in 1960 and first tried his hand at horror films, Dr. Blood's Coffin (1961) and The Snake Woman (1961). Furie experienced his first box-office hit with the teenage musical The Young Ones (1961), which helped launch Cliff Richard. His success led to the cult film The Leather Boys (1964). In 1965, Furie was hired to direct the Len Deighton spy thriller The Ipcress File, starring Michael Caine. He followed with the western The Appaloosa (1966), and The Naked Runner (1967), starring Frank Sinatra. Furie turned to Hollywood when Paramount Pictures offered the director a four-picture deal, which included The Lawyer (1970), Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), and Hit (1973). His next film was Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (1975), a romantic comedy of unrequited Jewish love. After the Vietnam-era love story Purple Hearts (1984) fell flat, Furie turned to directing action films, including Superman IV (1987), the Iron Eagle series (1986, 1988, 1995), and The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991). In 1994, Furie returned to Canada to direct the pilot episode of the Lonesome Dove series. He continued to shoot made-for-television films, as well as direct-to-video features. (Adam Wills (2nd ed.)