Laverents was born on August 5, 1908, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and moved frequently with his family as his father was a real estate speculator always trying to find the next opportunity, ultimately attending high school in Florida.
[1] He was employed as a sheet metal worker at Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego, California, starting in 1941, and with the exception of military service remained with the firm until 1967, by which time it had become part of Convair.
[2] He started making films in 1958 as part of the San Diego Amateur Moviemakers Club using a 16-millimeter Bolex camera.
[1] Sid became a member of MENSA later in his life, after reading an article about it in the Reader's Digest, and remembering that an IQ test given to him in the 1940s for a job in the defense industry was the highest recorded.
In addition to his films, Laverents wrote two books; His autobiography, The First 90 Years Are the Hardest and the novel Raging Waters about a devastating 1929 flood in Elba, Alabama.