George H. Englund

George H. Englund, born George Howe Ripley on June 22, 1926, in Washington, D.C., was an American actor, director, producer, and film editor who appeared on Broadway in 1951. He was the son of actress Mabel Albertson and Harold Austin Ripley. Following his parents' divorce, his mother married Ken Englund, and young George took on his stepfather's surname. His uncle was actor Jack Albertson.

Englund's Broadway career included a role in Lo and Behold!, which played in 1951. His work in the entertainment industry extended well beyond the stage, encompassing film directing and producing. Among his directorial credits was the 1963 film The Ugly American, which starred his close friend Marlon Brando. Subsequent directorial work included Signpost to Murder in 1965, Zachariah in 1971, Snow Job in 1972, the television movie A Christmas to Remember in 1978, and The Vegas Strip War, a television movie released in 1984.

Englund's friendship with Brando was a defining relationship in his life, and he later documented it in a memoir titled The Way It's Never Been Done Before: My Friendship with Marlon Brando.

In 1953, Englund married actress Cloris Leachman. The couple had five children — Adam, Bryan, George Jr., Morgan, and Dinah — before divorcing in 1978. On April 10, 1980, he married actress Bonnie Graves, with whom he had two children, Graves and Max. Max Englund, born in 1982, died in 1994 from complications related to spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disorder affecting the muscles. Englund and Bonnie Graves divorced in 1992. For the final decade of his life, his companion was Frances Bowes, an art collector, patron, and vice-chair at the Dia Center for the Arts.

In 1997, Englund relocated to Palm Springs, California, where he lived until his death. He died at his home on September 14, 2017, at the age of 91, following a fall, and was cremated.