Anthony George

Anthony George, born Ottavio Gabriel George on January 29, 1921, in Endicott, New York, near Binghamton, was an American actor whose career spanned television, film, and Broadway. The second son of Italian immigrant parents, George developed an ambition to perform from the age of six. Following his service in World War II, he relocated to Hollywood, where his first screen credit came in 1950 after an initially slow start in the industry. He died on March 16, 2005, in Newport Beach, California, at the age of 84, from complications from emphysema.

The bulk of George's professional work unfolded on television, beginning in the mid-1950s with a series of guest appearances across multiple genres. He took on several Native American roles during this period, including parts in three episodes of the CBS western Brave Eagle — appearing as Night Wind in "Voice of the Serpent" and as Red Wing in "Witch Bear," both in 1955 and 1956 respectively, alongside a role in "The Treachery of At-Ta-Tu" in 1955. In 1955 he also appeared as Sergei in the Crossroads episode "Mightier Than the Sword," and in 1956 he was cast as a Native American guide in "Death in the Snow" on NBC's The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial. Western television continued to provide steady work: in 1957 he played Sancho Mendariz in the Cheyenne episode "The Spanish Grant," and on July 31 of that same year he portrayed bank robber Nick Frazee in "Hold Up" on The Sheriff of Cochise. In January 1959 he played a Catholic priest named Padre John in the Sugarfoot episode "The Desperadoes," and in 1958 he appeared as an escaped mental patient named Clarence Miller in an episode of Highway Patrol.

Later in 1959, George was cast as federal agent Cam Allison in the first season of ABC's The Untouchables, appearing in twelve episodes before securing the recurring role of Don Corey on Checkmate, the part for which he became widely recognized. Joseph Cotten, whom George had worked with previously, guest-starred in the Checkmate episode "Face in the Window." Following Checkmate's conclusion, George appeared as the title character in "The Johnny Masters Story" episode of Wagon Train.

George's most sustained success came through daytime soap operas. In 1967 he replaced Mitchell Ryan in the role of Burke Devlin on Dark Shadows; after that character was killed in a plane crash, George went on to originate the role of Jeremiah Collins in a storyline set in 1795, which ran for most of that year until Jeremiah was also written out. He subsequently joined CBS's Search for Tomorrow as Dr. Tony Vincente, a role he held from 1970 to 1975, and later played Dr. Will Vernon on One Life to Live, from which he was written out in 1984. He continued to make occasional appearances in film and television thereafter, including a 1988 role as Alex Karides in the Simon and Simon episode "Baja, Humbug."

In addition to his extensive television career, George appeared on Broadway in 1965 in Funny Girl, bringing his stage work to one of New York's most prominent theatrical venues.