George Sidney was a director at MGM during Hollywood’s Golden Age. We became friends late in his life after he had retired. We would sit and he would regale me with his tales. I wrote a public tribute to him for the DGA Magazine that can be read by clicking here.
My favorite unprintable story was how he lost his virginity to Joan Crawford at age 16. He was a 3rd AD on one of her early pictures. She stopped the shooting, pointed at him and said, "that boy is staring at me, I want him fired". So Georgie was kicked off the stage. He tearfully went to his dad's office (L.K. Sidney a VP at MGM). Dad’s secretary said, "it's still early, go to a florist in Culver City, buy her some roses and apologize".
Five O' clock Joan Crawford arrived at her dressing room to find Georgie with his roses. He apologized. One thing led to another and he "became a man".
Flash forward 18 years. It is the Golden Globe Awards sometime in the early 50's. George is president of the DGA and he is seated at the same table as... Joan Crawford.
He reminds her of the story, she looks him over head to toe and says,
"Want to apologize again?"
