Capable technician who directed episodes of TV's "Naked City" and "Mr. Novak" and made several documentaries before moving on to feature work in 1957. Wendkos' first film was "The Burglar", an off-beat film noir which has generated some cult interest, partly thanks to an atypically restrained performance by Jayne Mansfield. Other early features, such as "Angel Baby" (1960), displayed some visual flair but later work was increasingly routine. Since the early 1970s, Wendkos has done the bulk of his directing for TV: among his well-received dramas are "Honor Thy Father" (1973), "79 Park Avenue" (1978) and "The Ordeal of Patty Hearst" (1979).