Biography for
George Arliss More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

10 April 1868, London, England, UK

Date of Death

5 February 1946, London, England, UK (bronchial ailment)

Birth Name

George Augustus Andrews

Mini Biography

One of the oldest actors on the screen in the 1920s and 1930s, George Arliss starred on the London stage from an early age. He came to the United States and starred in several films, but it was his role as British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in Disraeli (1929) that brought him his greatest success.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ken Severson

Spouse

Florence Arliss

(16 September 1899 - 5 February 1946) (his death)

Trivia

Once, during a court appearance, Arliss described himself as The world's greatest living actor. "You see, I am on oath", he explained.

Was the first British actor to win an Academy Award.

Often erroneously listed as father of Leslie Arliss. In truth he had no children.

Discovered and promoted Bette Davis.

The first actor to win an Academy Award for playing a real person, as British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in Disraeli (1929).

The first actor to win an Oscar for a reprise role. Arliss originally played Benjamin Disraeli in the silent movie, Disraeli (1921). He won the Oscar for his reprisal of the role in the talkie remake, Disraeli (1929).

Best known for his Oscar winning portrayal of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who was in office on the day he was born, in London on 10th April 1868.

Personal Quotes

[from his autobiography] Harry M. Warner told me that when he decided to do Disraeli (1929) he did not expect it to pay but he was using me as an expensive bait to hook people into the cinema who had never gone before.

The talking picture is like a dress rehearsal in the theatre. It never gets those moments of inspiration when an audience lifts an actor out of himself. So I say that no player in pictures can ever be seen at his best.

[In 1940] The beauty of Hollywood is due entirely to the hand of man. For once man has not brought destruction, but grace and charm where there was nothing but waste.

Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life.