An avid art collector, gardener, musician, painter, and photographer, George Sidney was known for his impeccable sense of style and generosity.

His clothing, original scripts, notes, and personal papers are housed in a namesake collection at The Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

An only child, George tagged along with his father to work at Radio City Music Hall, where he learned the art of choreography, set design, and stage direction.

At five years old, he became the most famous child actor in the world when he played the lead role in The Littlest Cowboy, a 1921 film with western super star, Tom Mix.

After a reputed tryst with a showgirl from The Rockettes, Sidney was sent to Los Angeles at age 15 to learn the movie business from his "uncle," studio head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Louis B. Mayer.

Sidney soon learned the art of editing at MGM, where he worked alongside aspiring film maker Fred Zinnemann, who went on to direct From Here to Eternity (1953) and Oklahoma!

By the age of 20, Sidney directed many screen tests, with established and aspiring stars, including Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Judy Garland and Ava Gardner.

Sidney honed his skills with 85 one-reel shorts—a genre that eventually gave him two Academy Awards with "Quicker'n A Wink" (1940) and "Of Pups and Puzzles" (1941).

Sidney came to the fore of American popular cinema with his blockbuster musical, The Harvey Girls (1946), starring Judy Garland and Angela Lansberry.

A lifelong learner, Sidney attended law school at the University of Southern California and lectured extensively about film production.

George Sidney's work has been celebrated at museums and film festivals around the world: Paris, Barcelona, Helsinki, Moscow, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Deauville, and Honolulu.

Sidney was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award four times, starting with the lush Technicolor remake of Show Boat.

These artifacts include scripts with handwritten notes, personal correspondence, and his extensive photography collection spanning Sidney's 60-year career in the film industry.