Sergio Grieco


Sergio Grieco was an Italian film director and screenwriter. In addition to working under his own name, he also used the pseudonym Terence Hathaway.

Biography

Sergio Grieco was born on 13 January 1917 in Codevigo, Veneto, Italy. His father was the Italian Communist politician Ruggero Grieco. He was taken to France by his parents as a baby, and attended schools in Paris. His interest in cinema began after winning a school art contest; a prize which included being able to assist the operator of the school's cinema. After completing high school, he began his career in film in Paris as an assistant to avant-garde film maker Germaine Dulac.
Grieco traveled to Russia, Soviet Union for a family event, and there obtained employment as third assistant to Nikolai Ekk. For Ekk he worked on the first Soviet sound film Road to Life. He married a Russian woman and had children there. He began his Italian film career as a script supervisor in 1939, working his way up to an assistant director the following year. In 1949 he worked as an assistant to René Clément on his film The Walls of Malapaga.
His directorial debut was Il sentiero dell'odio, beginning a prolific career in a variety of genres. He met his wife Teresa Terrone, who appeared in several of his films, beginning with The Mysterious Swordsman/''Lo spadaccino misterioso in 1955.
He directed nearly 40 films between 1950 and 1977, often also writing his own screenplays. Grieco is best known for his adventure, swashbuckler, sword and sandal and Eurospy films with Ken Clark, including the Secret Agent 077 series of imitation James Bond films, which he directed under the pseudonym 'Terence Hathaway'. His final film was The Mad Dog Killer. Grieco also co-wrote the screenplay for The Inglorious Bastards''.
His nephew is David Grieco, who has worked as a writer, producer and director.
Grieco died on 30 March 1982 in Rome.

Filmography as director