Anthony George(1921-2005)
- Actor
Virile-looking, hairy-chested actor Anthony George is best remembered for a couple of
popular TV crime series back in the early 1960s. Born Octavio George in
Endicott, New York, he began in small roles in motion pictures and TV
in the 1950s. Picked up by 20th Century-Fox he was sometimes billed as
Tony George or Ott George in such "B" movies as You Never Can Tell (1951), Three Bad Sisters (1956),
Chicago Confidential (1957) and Gunfire at Indian Gap (1957). More often than not, however, he appeared
uncredited and his dark, swarthy features usually had him typed as
minor heavies (convicts, thugs, mobsters, etc.). The fast pace and
expectations of making movies proved too much for the actor, however,
and he suffered a nervous breakdown during one such filming. Traveling
back East to recover, TV ended up being a more adaptable medium. He
finally hit pay dirt in 1960 when he was cast as a tough-talking good
guy, agent Cam Allison, alongside Robert Stack's Eliot Ness in The Untouchables (1959). He
abruptly left that series to head up his own cast as investigator Don
Corey in the detective drama Checkmate (1960). The show lasted two seasons and
made him a familiar face, if not a household name. Following this peak,
he became a steadfast presence in daytime soaps with regular roles on
Dark Shadows (1966), Search for Tomorrow (1951) and One Life to Live (1968). On occasion he would appear on stage and
in 1966 had a chance to play Nicky Arnstein in "Funny Girl" at Los
Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre opposite singing comedienne and impressionist
Marilyn Michaels, who was known for her dead-on impersonation of Barbra Streisand. Other
productions would include "The Front Page," "Winterset," "Come Blow
Your Horn" and "Cactus Flower." A voice-over actor in commercials as
well, Anthony George died of complications from lung disease in Los
Angeles, California on March 16, 2005.
