Christopher George

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For other uses, see Christopher George (disambiguation).

Christopher George

as Sgt. Sam Troy in The Rat Patrol

Born

Christopher John George
February 25, 1929
Royal Oak, Michigan

Died

November 28, 1983 (aged 54)
Los Angeles, California

Spouse(s)

Lynda Day George (1970-1983) (his death)

Awards won
Golden Globe Awards
Best Tv Actor - Male Nominated: 1966 The Rat Patrol

Christopher John George (February 25, 1929 - November 28, 1983) was an American television and film actor who was perhaps best known for his starring role in the 1966-1968 TV series The Rat Patrol. He was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1967 as Best TV Star for his performance in the series. George was also the long-time husband of actress Lynda Day George.

1 Biography
2 References
3 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

George was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of Greek immigrants, his father a traveling salesman during his childhood. His family eventually settled in Miami, Florida where George attended Miami High School. He served in the Marines and later attended the University of Miami. George began acting in New York City, where he performed on the stage and in television commercials.

[edit] Career

George first rose to prominence in 1967 playing a supporting role in the Howard Hawks-directed western film El Dorado, starring John Wayne. George and Wayne became friends while shooting the film and would co-star in additional westerns including Chisum in 1970 and The Train Robbers in 1973.^[1]

From 1966 to 1968 over the course of two seasons and 58 episodes, George played the lead role of Sergeant Sam Troy in The Rat Patrol. The show 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.^[2]^[3]Following cancellation of the series, George played the lead role in several genre films of the 1960s including Tiger by the Tail (1968) co-starring Tippi Hedren; Project X (1968), directed by William Castle; and The Devil’s 8 (1969) co-starring Fabian.^[4] In 1969, George portrayed Ben Richards in the pilot movie for The Immortal which ran on ABC Movie of the Week. The film was picked up as a TV series and ran for 15 episodes from 1970-1971.^[5] During this time, he also portrayed Dan August in the television film House on Greenapple Road (1970), which evolved into the 1970-71 series Dan August starring Burt Reynolds.^[6]

George first met actress Lynda Day when they starred together in the 1966 independent film The Gentle Rain. They would star together again four years later in Chisum, where they fell in love and soon married. Thereafter, Lynda became Lynda Day George and co-starred with Christopher in multiple television films over the next 10 years 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).^[7]

George 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. He also surprised fans by posing nude for Playgirl magazine in the June, 1974 issue.^[8]^[9] In 1976, George played a supporting role 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 animal horror thriller became one of the most popular films of Christopher's career earning more than $39 million at the box office.^[10]

George 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) co-starring Lynda Day George and Leslie Nielsen; Whiskey Mountain (1977); City of the Living Dead (1980) directed by Lucio Fulci; The Exterminator (1980); Graduation Day (1981); Enter the Ninja (1981); Pieces (1982) co-starring Lynda Day George; and Mortuary (1983) co-starring Lynda Day George and Bill Paxton. Many of these works have since achieved cult film status.^[11]^[12]^[13]

[edit] Death

Soon after completing Mortuary, George died unexpectedly of a heart attack on November 28, 1983 at the age of 54. A contributing factor in his death is believed to have been a 1967 mishap suffered on the set of The Rat Patrol when his jeep flipped over and pinned him beneath the vehicle. The accident gave Christopher a cardiac contusion. His death devastated wife Lynda, and afterwards she only worked sporadically in television guest roles until her retirement in the early 1990s. He is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.^[14]^[15]

George's niece is Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White.^[16]