Introduction
Gus Trikonis (born November 21, 1937) is an American actor, dancer and director.
Career
He began his career as an actor and dancer, notably appearing in the hugely successful 1961 film West Side Story as Indio, one of the "Sharks", as well as dancing with Debbie Reynolds and Grover Dale to the frantic "He's My Friend" in 1964's The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Although not billed, originally, Trikonis got his second biggest exposure in front of any audience (the first being in the aforementioned "West Side Story" , seen at US theatres by about 61 million moviegoers), on December 3, 1968, as one of the two main (out a of total of five) male dancers who do Elvis Presley's choreography as he sings a Gospel medley, the latter as part of a widely watched NBC-TV Special entitled "Elvis".
As a director, Trikonis handled several projects from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, mostly low-budget "exploitation films". He made several films for Roger Corman at New World Pictures; Corman called Trikonis one of the best young directors he had ever worked with.
From the 1980s to the mid-1990s Trikonis mostly directed television series. He directed episodes of television series including Baywatch, Quantum Leap, Hunter and Wiseguy.
Personal life
Trikonis was married to actress Goldie Hawn from 1969 to 1976; he was her first husband and they have the same birthday. His sister is Gina Trikonis, an actress who also appeared in West Side Story, as Graziela, Riff's girlfriend.
Films directed
- Five the Hard Way / The Sidehackers (1969)
- Supercock (1975)
- The Swinging Barmaids (1975)
- Nashville Girl (1976)
- The Student Body (1976)
- Moonshine County Express (1977)
- The Evil (1978)
- She's Dressed to Kill (1979)
- Elvis and the Beauty Queen (1981)
- Take This Job and Shove It (1981)