Кристофер Джон Джордж: Американский актёр греческого происхождения

American actor (1931–1983)

Christopher John George (Greek: Χριστόφορος Γεωργίου; February 25, 1931 – November 28, 1983) was an American television and film actor who starred in the 1960s television series The Rat Patrol. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1967 as Best TV Star for his performance in the series. He was also the recipient of a New York Film Festival award as the Best Actor in a Television Commercial. George was married to actress Lynda Day George.

Christopher George was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, on February 25, 1931, the son of Greek immigrants John George (Greek: Ιωάννης Γεωργίου) and Vaseleke (Vassiliki) George (Greek: Βασιλική Γεωργίου). John was born in Thebes, Greece, and Vaseleke was born in Athens, Greece. George did not speak English until he was six years old, because his family only spoke Greek at home. His father was a traveling salesman during his childhood. He accompanied his father on selling trips to cities such as Akron, New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, and Detroit. From Michigan, the family moved to Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. Once he began learning to speak English, his father enrolled him in Greek school in addition to his regular school so that he would not forget the Greek language. That was where George first became interested in acting; at Greek school they performed Greek plays and recited Greek poetry. When he was 14, he and his family moved to Miami, Florida. When he was young, George felt bound to become a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church, and his family prepared him for it; his brother Nick said that all through his childhood, Christopher was an altar boy and a choir boy and that his parents and the priest were trying to groom him to become a priest. He served as an altar boy at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Miami.

George earned the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. These awards are documented in his official military personnel file available at the National Archives and Records Administration.

After completing his enlistment, George attended the University of Miami from 1953 to 1958, where he earned a Bachelor's in Business Administration degree from the school of business. He was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, along with his brother Nick, who also attended the University of Miami.

George held down a variety of jobs before he began acting for a living, including working as a private investigator and as a bartender in a Miami bar. George was hired by a friend who owned a 110 foot converted Canadian gunboat and transported cargo through the Caribbean for two years. He studied acting under Wynn Handman and landed roles in Off Broadway productions of popular plays of the day. Under drama coach Wynn Handman, he landed a sixteen week engagement in the play Mr. Roberts with actor Hugh O'Brian; parts in Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams works followed. His career took off after he made a 60 second TV commercial for shaving cream, where he played the young man in the "Good morning, Mr. Gray" shaving spot, and won the New York Film Festival Award for best actor in a commercial. During this 1962 shaving cream commercial, George played a groom lathering up before his first honeymoon night, with a line where he said, "It's all for you." The commercial earned him over $30,000. This gave him his first opportunity to meet and work with John Wayne, who had been his boyhood idol and who would become a lifelong friend. He first rose to prominence playing a supporting role in the Howard Hawks directed Western film El Dorado (1966, released in 1967), also for Paramount Pictures starring both John Wayne and Robert Mitchum in the lead roles. George and Wayne became friends while shooting the film and would co star in additional Westerns, including Chisum (1970) and The Train Robbers (1973). George had the lead in William Castle's spy fi Project X released in 1968.

From 1966 to 1968 over the course of two seasons and 58 episodes, George played the lead role of Sergeant Sam Troy on The Rat Patrol. The television series followed the exploits of four Allied soldiers who were part of a long range desert patrol group in the North African campaign during World War II. Along with fellow Rat Patrol members, he appeared in the April 1967 Cherry Blossom Festival and Parade in Washington, D. C. While starring in The Rat Patrol, Chris also served as an awards presenter at the 1966 Washington, D. C. local version of the Emmy Awards, hosted at the Washington, D. C. Sheraton Park Hotel. While filming a scene on January 4, 1967, George, as well as fellow cast members Justin Tarr and Gary Raymond, were injured when the Jeep Tarr was driving overturned on a dry lakebed at Rosamond, California as they made a tight turn. George sustained a concussion, tearing something in his neck and injuring his back. Doctors at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in California were able to determine that his back had been badly sprained, not fractured, as they had initially feared.

George also joined actor Lawrence P. Casey on a USO tour of Vietnam, Japan and Thailand, which lasted for almost a month and which started on November 12, 1967, and went into December 1967. During the tour of Vietnam, he visited III Corps Headquarters at Bien Hoa Army Base and used the III Corps signal switchboard to place a telephone call to his girlfriend and future wife, Lynda Day. While in Vietnam, he did not confine himself to the rear echelon, but instead pressed his escorts to allow him to go as far out into the field as they would permit; at one time, they were even pinned down by the Viet Cong. The visit, to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, was arranged by Johnny Grant, a Hollywood radio personality who had taken troupes of performers to Vietnam; during the visit George and some of the actresses, including his future wife Lynda Day, spent over an hour with a wounded veteran who had been previously uncommunicative and got him to talk.

Following the cancellation of The Rat Patrol, George played the lead role in several genre films of the 1960s, including Tiger by the Tail (1968, released in 1970) co starring Tippi Hedren. The Devil's 8 (1969) co starring Fabian and Mickey Spillane's The Delta Factor (1970), directed by Tay Garnett who co wrote the film with Raoul Walsh. He narrated a documentary about the careers of Craig Breedlove and Lee Breedlove, a husband and wife auto racing team, The Racers: Craig and Lee Breedlove (1968). In September 1969, he portrayed Ben Richards in the television pilot movie for The Immortal which ran on the ABC Movie of the Week. The pilot is based on the science fiction novel The Immortals, by James Gunn. The film was picked up as a television series and ran for 15 episodes from 1970 to 1971. Although the series was cancelled mid season, episodes were rerun by ABC in the summer of 1971. It was later shown in reruns on the Syfy channel. During this time, he played Dan August in the television film House on Greenapple Road (1970), which evolved into the television series Dan August starring Burt Reynolds. In addition, he starred in an unsold series pilot, Escape with Avery Schreiber and Huntz Hall, which ABC released in 1971 as a television movie. In it, he portrayed Robin Hood–like escapologist and nightclub owner Cameron Steele. He continued his television work throughout the 1970s with guest roles on many popular series, including Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Police Story, S. W. A. T., Charlie's Angels, and Fantasy Island. In 1973, he starred opposite Jim Brown in I Escaped from Devil's Island. He also surprised fans by posing nude for Playgirl magazine in the June 1974 issue. In 1976, he played a supporting role as Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky in the all star World War II epic Midway. That same year, he would play the lead role of Ranger Michael Kelly in the Film Ventures International independent film Grizzly. A thinly veiled Jaws clone, the killer animal horror/thriller film became one of the most popular films of George's career, earning more than $39 million at the box office. He followed that success with a busy string of horror, action, splatter and slasher B movies over the next seven years, including Dixie Dynamite (1976) co starring Warren Oates; Day of the Animals (1977); City of the Living Dead (1980); Graduation Day (1981); Enter the Ninja (1981); Pieces (1982) and Mortuary (1983).

In the summer of 1976, prior to returning to MCAS Quantico for a visit, George traveled to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to appear in a recruiting video for the U. S. Marine Corps Air Reserves. It was filmed by the J. Walter Thompson advertising company and provided to recruiters in 1978. Archive records show that George was under contract with J. Walter Thompson for this work.

George co starred with his wife Lynda in multiple television films, including Mayday at 40,000 Feet! (1976) and Cruise Into Terror (1978). They also worked together in episodes of The F. B. I. (1970), Mission: Impossible (1971), McCloud (1975), Wonder Woman (1976), Love Boat (1977) and Vega$ (1978). In addition, George and his wife Lynda co starred in the feature film, Day Of The Animals (1977). One of his last film roles was a supporting role in the horror film Mortuary. Released in September 1983, it was actually filmed in 1981, more than two years prior to his death.

George first met actress Lynda Day in New York where they were doing a fashion layout; prophetically, she was modeling the bride's outfit and he was the groom. They met again later when they starred together in the independent film The Gentle Rain (1966). They would appear in supporting roles together four years later in Chisum starring John Wayne, where they fell in love. On May 15, 1970, they were married in an Episcopal ceremony in a judge's chamber in Palm Beach, Florida. They had two children together — a daughter, Casey and a son, Nicholas. George's niece is Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White. According to White, although George was not a biological relation of hers, her mother grew up with his family and, years later in Los Angeles, he and his wife took her under their wing.

George died of a heart attack at age 52 in the late evening of November 28, 1983, at Westside Hospital in Los Angeles. After dinner at home with his wife, he felt sudden chest pains and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He later went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 10:35 p. m., over three hours after he was admitted, while under the care and observation of his cardiologist, Dr. Pearl McBroom. A Greek Orthodox mnemósynon (Greek: μνημόσυνον) service was conducted at Westwood Memorial Park and a private funeral was held at Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Northridge on December 1. On May 5, 2009, the Marine Corps flew a flag over the Iwo Jima Memorial in honor of his service in the Corps.

Year Title Role Notes 1965 In Harm's Way Sailor Uncredited 1966 The Gentle Rain Bill Patterson 1967 El Dorado Nelse McLeod Filmed in 1966 1968 Project X Hagan Arnold 1968 Massacre Harbor Sergeant Sam Troy Feature film consisting of three Rat Patrol episodes 1968 Gavilan Gavilan Also known as Ballad of Gavilan1968Bandolero!Mrs. Stoner's wagon driverUncredited 1969 The Thousand Plane Raid Col. Greg Brandon 1969 The Devil's 8 Ray Faulkner 1970 Tiger by the Tail Steve Michaelis Filmed in 1968 1970 The Delta Factor Morgan 1970 Chisum Dan Nodeen 1973 The Train Robbers Calhoun James 1973 Bad Charleston Charlie Lawyer Uncredited 1973 I Escaped from Devil's Island Davert 1973 Pushing Up Daisies Gas Station Attendant Uncredited 1974 The Inbreaker Roy MacRae 1976 Grizzly Ranger Michael Kelly 1976 Dixie Dynamite Sheriff Phil Marsh 1976 Midway Lieutenant Commander C. Wade McClusky 1977 Day of the Animals Steve Buckner 1977 Whiskey Mountain Bill 1978 Questo si che è amore Mike 1980 The Exterminator Detective James Dalton 1980 City of the Living Dead Peter Bell Alternative title: The Gates of HellItalian title: Paura nella città dei morti viventi 1981 Graduation Day Coach George Michaels 1981 Enter the Ninja Charles Venarius 1982 Angkor: Cambodia Express MacArthur 1982 Pieces Lt. Bracken Spanish title: Mil gritos tiene la noche 1983 Mortuary Hank Andrews Filmed in 1981

Year Title Role Notes 1965 Bewitched George Episode: "George the Warlock" 1966 Thirteen Against Fate Domb Episode: "The Lodger" 1966 68 The Rat Patrol Sgt. Sam Troy 58 episodes 1970 71 The Immortal Ben Richards 16 episodes 1970 House on Greenapple Road Lt. Dan August TV film 1970 The F. B. I. Peter Joseph Tenny Episode: "Return to Power" 1971 Escape Cameron Steele TV film 1971 Mission: Impossible Wendell Hoyes Episode: "Nerves" 1971 Dead Men Tell No Tales Larry Towers / Vic Jacobi TV film 1971 73 Love, American Style Peter / Chuck 2 episodes 1972 Man on a String Lieutenant Pete King TV film 1972 The Heist Joe Craddock TV film 1974 The Wide World of Mystery Episode: "A Beautiful Killing" 1974 Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law Cromwell Episode: "The Break In" 1974 Thriller Bernard Peel Episode: "The Next Scream You Hear" (US title: "Not Guilty!") 1974 75 Police Story Lt. Dutch Bennett / Doug Rollins 2 episodes 1975 McCloud Vincent Burns Episode: "Sharks!" 1975 The Last Survivors Duane Jeffreys TV film 1975 S. W. A. T. Harry / Bravo 3 episodes 1976 Wonder Woman Rojak Episode: "Fausta, the Nazi Wonder Woman" 1976 Mayday at 40,000 Feet! Stan Burkhart TV film 1978 Cruise Into Terror Neal Barry TV film 1978 Vega$ Nicky Trent Episode: "Serve, Volley and Kill" 1978 79 The Love Boat Ross Randall / Bud Pomeroy / Bill Wainwright 4 episodes 1978 82 Fantasy Island William Lowell / Dr. Greg Miller / Joe Beck / Jack Kincaid 4 episodes 1979 Charlie's Angels Chadway Episode: "Terror on Skis" 1979 The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo Dandy Jim Brody Episode: "The Day That Shark Ate Lobo"