Born in San Francisco, California. He took an interest in films as a schoolboy and after working as a factory hand, stock boy, traveling salesman, and oil field laborer, entered the film industry in 1913 as an actor and assistant cameraman. Within a year he was directing comedy shorts for the kiddie market in collaboration with his brother Chester Franklin who was a former Sennett cartoonist. They graduated to features in 1915 but split up toward the end of WW I, when Chester was drafted. On his own, Sidney quickly established a reputation as an exacting craftsman who planned and executed his productions with great care. He also became known as a superb "woman's director," a man capable of eliciting sensitive performances from even mediocre actresses. During his 20-year career as a director for First National, Warner Bros., and, from 1926, MGM, Franklin created many glossy productions that matched the glamour of such stars as Norma and Constance Talmadge, Mary Pickford, Marion Davies, Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Luise Rainer, and Jennifer Jones. At MGM he became a favorite of producer Irving Thalberg and was entrusted with some of the studio's most prestigious productions. After handling Shearer in THE ACTRESS (1928) and Garbo in WILD ORCHIDS (1929), two stylish late silent films, he brought Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne to the screen in THE GUARDSMAN (1931) and made another successful stage-to-screen adaptation with PRIVATE LIVES (1931). His last film as a director in the 1930s was THE GOOD EARTH (1937), a stupendous adaptation of Pearl Buck's novel, on which directors Sam Wood, George Hill, Fred Niblo, and Andrew Marton collaborated, receiving screen credits as associate directors. Franklin's films as director were meticulously executed and technically faultless. The acting was invariably fine and the continuity smooth. But he was a stylish director rather than one with a singular style, and at MGM his personal signature was often buried deep beneath the exterior luster of the studio movie machine. After Thalberg's death, Franklin abandoned directing in favor of producing and in that capacity was responsible for some of MGM's most successful films of the 40s. His production of MRS. MINIVER won the 1942 best picture Academy Award. In that same year he received the Irving G. Thalberg Award for "consistent high quality of production achievement." He was an uncredited director on DUEL IN THE SUN (1946). In the early 50s he found himself at odds with the MGM management and working only on occasional projects. In 1957 he returned to directing with a new version of THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET, which he had directed for the studio in 1934. As soon as he had completed the project he walked out of MGM and into retirement. Franklin should not be confused with actor Sidney Franklin (1870-1931), who played character roles in numerous Hollywood silents of the 20s. Another Sidney Franklin, who was known as "The Bullfighter From Brooklyn," appeared in a number of films before his death in 1976.  Nominated for Directing 1937: THE GOOD EARTH  Nominated for Best Picture 1939: NINOTCHKA - Producer at MGM  Best Picture 1942: MRS. MINIVER - Producer at MGM  Nominated for Best Picture 1942: RANDOM HARVEST - Producer at MGM  Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award 1942  Nominated for Best Picture 1943: MADAME CURIE - Producer at MGM  Nominated for Best Picture 1946: THE YEARLING - Producer at MGM 6 nominations, 1 Award, 1 Honorary Award