05-28-2023, 07:27 PM
George Maharis (September 1, 1928 – May 24, 2023) was an American actor, singer and artist who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series Route 66. Maharis also recorded numerous pop music albums at the height of his fame, and later starred in the TV series The Most Deadly Game.
One of seven children, Maharis was born on September 1, 1928, in Astoria, Queens. His parents were Greek immigrants.[1] He attended Flushing High School and served in the United States Marine Corps for 18 months.[2]
He studied at the Actors Studio and appeared in off-Broadway productions. In October 1958, a New York Times critic described his performance in Jean Genet's Deathwatch as "correctly volatile, harsh, soft and cunning".[3] In 1960 he performed in the first US production of a work by Edward Albee, The Zoo Story.[4] He appeared on Studio One, Kraft Television Theater, Goodyear Television Playhouse, Stirling Silliphant's Naked City and Otto Preminger's Exodus, and in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow as Bud Gardner, one of Joanne Gardner's relatives who married Janet Bergman Collins.
One assessment of his early career put him in the "tough personality" tradition of Humphrey Bogart and John Garfield. Paul Gardner continued:[4]
In 1960, Maharis appeared as Buz Murdock in the TV series Route 66, which co-starred Martin Milner. Maharis was 32 at the time the series started, although the character he was playing was only 23. He received an Emmy nomination in 1962 for his continuing performance as Buz.
Maharis departed without completing his third season of the series, which saw him with health problems, including hepatitis.[5][6]
Maharis said he left Route 66 for health reasons, because of long hours and grueling conditions while shooting on location. "I have to protect my future", Maharis said in a 1963 interview. "If I keep going at the present pace, I'm a fool. Even if you have $4,000,000 in the bank, you can't buy another liver."[7]
Series producers Stirling Silliphant and Herbert B. Leonard disputed Maharis' stated position, arguing that he broke his contract to make movies.[7] Maharis biographer Karen Blocher identified Maharis' homosexuality as the issue, writing that "the producers felt betrayed and duped when they learned of Maharis's sexual orientation, and never trusted him again", and she speculated that "in a less homophobic era, they might have communicated better, and worked things out".[8][9] After Maharis' departure, the show's appeal declined. Glenn Corbett acted in the role of Milner's new sidekick, Linc Case. Route 66 was canceled in March 1964.[10]
For Maharis, a string of films followed, including Quick, Before It Melts (1964),[11] The Satan Bug and Sylvia (both 1965),[12] A Covenant with Death and The Happening (both 1967), and The Desperados (1969).[13][unreliable source]
Returning to series television in 1970, Maharis starred as criminologist Jonathan Croft in The Most Deadly Game. The series lasted 13 episodes, ending in January 1971.[12]
He modeled fully nude for the July 1973 issue of Playgirl magazine, one of the first celebrities to do so.[14][15] It was the magazine's second issue.[12]
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Maharis had featured roles in several television movies and also guest-starred on numerous television series, including Mission: Impossible, Fantasy Island, Kojak, McMillan & Wife, Barnaby Jones, Police Story, Switch, Cannon, Night Gallery, and The Bionic Woman, as well as Murder, She Wrote in 1990.[13][unreliable source]
He appeared as Count Machelli, King Cromwell's War Chancellor in The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982). He also starred with the Kenley Players in productions of Barefoot in the Park (1967) and How the Other Half Loves (1973) and in national touring company productions of Company and I Ought to Be in Pictures. In the 1980s, he performed in Las Vegas.[citation needed] Doppelganger (1993) was his last motion picture role.[12]
Maharis released albums and singles through Epic Records earlier in his career. His only top-40 pop hit was his version of the standard "Teach Me Tonight", which hit number 25 in June 1962.[16] His next singles charted below the top 40.[16] Later, he performed in nightclubs and pursued a secondary career as an impressionist painter. As of 2008, Maharis was still painting, splitting his time between New York and Beverly Hills, California.[14]
Maharis died at his Beverly Hills home on May 24, 2023, at the age of 94.[17][10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Maharis
One of seven children, Maharis was born on September 1, 1928, in Astoria, Queens. His parents were Greek immigrants.[1] He attended Flushing High School and served in the United States Marine Corps for 18 months.[2]
He studied at the Actors Studio and appeared in off-Broadway productions. In October 1958, a New York Times critic described his performance in Jean Genet's Deathwatch as "correctly volatile, harsh, soft and cunning".[3] In 1960 he performed in the first US production of a work by Edward Albee, The Zoo Story.[4] He appeared on Studio One, Kraft Television Theater, Goodyear Television Playhouse, Stirling Silliphant's Naked City and Otto Preminger's Exodus, and in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow as Bud Gardner, one of Joanne Gardner's relatives who married Janet Bergman Collins.
One assessment of his early career put him in the "tough personality" tradition of Humphrey Bogart and John Garfield. Paul Gardner continued:[4]
Quote:He was the cad who left unwed mothers in rooming houses and socked his lady friends when they irritated him.... To mothers, he was an undisciplined kid they wanted to spank–and then give a piece of chocolate. To aging debutantes, he was the ideal Fourth of July date, especially when it came time for shooting firecrackers.
In 1960, Maharis appeared as Buz Murdock in the TV series Route 66, which co-starred Martin Milner. Maharis was 32 at the time the series started, although the character he was playing was only 23. He received an Emmy nomination in 1962 for his continuing performance as Buz.
Maharis departed without completing his third season of the series, which saw him with health problems, including hepatitis.[5][6]
Maharis said he left Route 66 for health reasons, because of long hours and grueling conditions while shooting on location. "I have to protect my future", Maharis said in a 1963 interview. "If I keep going at the present pace, I'm a fool. Even if you have $4,000,000 in the bank, you can't buy another liver."[7]
Series producers Stirling Silliphant and Herbert B. Leonard disputed Maharis' stated position, arguing that he broke his contract to make movies.[7] Maharis biographer Karen Blocher identified Maharis' homosexuality as the issue, writing that "the producers felt betrayed and duped when they learned of Maharis's sexual orientation, and never trusted him again", and she speculated that "in a less homophobic era, they might have communicated better, and worked things out".[8][9] After Maharis' departure, the show's appeal declined. Glenn Corbett acted in the role of Milner's new sidekick, Linc Case. Route 66 was canceled in March 1964.[10]
For Maharis, a string of films followed, including Quick, Before It Melts (1964),[11] The Satan Bug and Sylvia (both 1965),[12] A Covenant with Death and The Happening (both 1967), and The Desperados (1969).[13][unreliable source]
Returning to series television in 1970, Maharis starred as criminologist Jonathan Croft in The Most Deadly Game. The series lasted 13 episodes, ending in January 1971.[12]
He modeled fully nude for the July 1973 issue of Playgirl magazine, one of the first celebrities to do so.[14][15] It was the magazine's second issue.[12]
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Maharis had featured roles in several television movies and also guest-starred on numerous television series, including Mission: Impossible, Fantasy Island, Kojak, McMillan & Wife, Barnaby Jones, Police Story, Switch, Cannon, Night Gallery, and The Bionic Woman, as well as Murder, She Wrote in 1990.[13][unreliable source]
He appeared as Count Machelli, King Cromwell's War Chancellor in The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982). He also starred with the Kenley Players in productions of Barefoot in the Park (1967) and How the Other Half Loves (1973) and in national touring company productions of Company and I Ought to Be in Pictures. In the 1980s, he performed in Las Vegas.[citation needed] Doppelganger (1993) was his last motion picture role.[12]
Maharis released albums and singles through Epic Records earlier in his career. His only top-40 pop hit was his version of the standard "Teach Me Tonight", which hit number 25 in June 1962.[16] His next singles charted below the top 40.[16] Later, he performed in nightclubs and pursued a secondary career as an impressionist painter. As of 2008, Maharis was still painting, splitting his time between New York and Beverly Hills, California.[14]
Maharis died at his Beverly Hills home on May 24, 2023, at the age of 94.[17][10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Maharis
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.