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'George Sanders' (July 3, 1906 – April 25, 1972) was an Academy Award-winning English film and television actor.

Contents

Early life

Career

Singing and writing

Marriages

Death

Selected filmography

External links

Early life

Sanders was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, of British parents. In 1917, when he was eleven, the family returned to Britain on the outbreak of the Russian Revolution and, like his brother, he attended Brighton College, a boys' independent school in Brighton. After graduation he worked at an advertising agency. It was there that the company secretary, an aspiring actress named Greer Garson, suggested a career in acting. His older brother, Tom Conway, was also an actor, to whom Sanders later handed over the role of "The Falcon".

Career

He made his British film debut in 1934 and after a series of British films made his American debut in 1936 with a role in ''Lloyd's of London''. His British accent and sensibilities, combined with his suave, snobbish and somewhat menacing air were utilised in American films during the next decade. He played supporting roles in prestige productions such as ''Rebecca'', in which he goaded the sinister Judith Anderson as Mrs Danvers, in her persecution of Joan Fontaine. He also played leading roles in lesser pictures such as ''Rage in Heaven''. During this time he was also the lead in both ''The Falcon'' and ''The Saint'' film series. He played Lord Henry Wotton in a film version of ''The Picture of Dorian Gray''. In 1947 he co-starred with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison in ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir''.
In 1950 he gave his most widely recognised performance and achieved his greatest success as the acid-tongued, cold-blooded theatre critic Addison DeWitt in ''All About Eve'', winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role.
He moved into the field of television and was responsible for the successful series ''George Sanders Mystery Theatre''. Sanders played an upper crust English villain in a 1965 ''The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'' episode. "The Gazebo in the Maze Affair". He also portrayed Mr. Freeze in two episodes of the 1960s live-action ''Batman'' TV series.
Later, he provided the voice for the malevolent Shere Khan in the Walt Disney production of ''The Jungle Book''. One of Sanders's final screen roles was in the 1972 feature film version of the popular television series ''Doomwatch''.
Sanders' smooth voice, urbane manner and upper-class British accent were the inspiration for the Peter Sellers' character "Hercules Grytpype-Thynne" in the famous BBC radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers and Sanders appeared together in the Pink Panther sequel, ''A Shot in the Dark''.
He was honoured with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for Motion Pictures at 1636 Vine St, and for Television at 7007 Hollywood Blvd. In popular culture, he is mentioned in The Kinks' song "Celluloid Heroes" and his ghost makes an appearance in Clive Barker's 2001 novel ''Coldheart Canyon''.

Singing and writing

Sanders released an album entitled ''The George Sanders Touch: Songs for the Lovely Lady''. He went to great lengths to get himself signed to sing in ''South Pacific'', but was overwhelmed with anxiety over the role he quickly dropped out. Sanders' singing voice can be heard in ''Call Me Madam'' and ''The Jungle Book''.
1946 saw the publication of the crime novel, ''Stranger at Home'' by George Sanders. In fact, this was published simply to cash in on his screen success; it was ghost-written by Leigh Brackett.

Marriages

In 1940, he married Susan Larson; the marriage ended in divorce in 1949. From 1949 until 1954, he was married to the Hungarian actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. Sanders was married to actress Benita Hume from 1959 until her death in 1967. His last wife was Magda Gabor, his second wife's sister; the marriage lasted a year.
It was during this period that he completed his autobiography, ''Memoirs of a Professional Cad''.

Death

Sanders committed suicide in Castelldefels (a coastal town near Barcelona, Catalonia) with an overdose of barbiturates, leaving behind a suicide note that attributed his action to boredom. His friend David Niven recorded in his autobiography that Sanders had predicted his own suicide many years earlier. The note read: "Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck."

Selected filmography

★ ''Lloyd's of London'' (1936)

★ ''Things to Come'' (1936)

★ ''The Saint Strikes Back'' (1939)

★ ''Confessions of a Nazi Spy'' (1939)

★ ''The Saint in London'' (1939)

★ ''Allegheny Uprising'' (1939)

★ ''Foreign Correspondent'' (1940)

★ ''Rebecca'' (1940)

★ ''The Son of Monte Cristo'' (1940)

★ ''Rage in Heaven'' (1941)

★ ''The Gay Falcon'' (1941)

★ ''Tales of Manhattan'' (1942)

★ ''The Falcon's Brother'' (1942)

★ ''This Land Is Mine'' (1943)

★ ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' (1945)

★ ''The Strange Woman'' (1946)

★ ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' (1947)

★ ''Forever Amber'' (1947)

★ ''Samson and Delilah'' (1949)

★ ''All About Eve'' (1950)

★ ''Ivanhoe'' (1952)

★ ''Call Me Madam'' (1953)

★ ''Witness to Murder'' (1954)

★ ''Journey to Italy'' (''Viaggio in Italia'') (1954)

★ ''Moonfleet'' (1955)

★ ''While the City Sleeps'' (1956)

★ ''Death of a Scoundrel'' (1956)

★ ''Never Say Goodbye'' (1956)

★ ''Village of the Damned'' (1960)

★ ''The Rebel'' (1961)

★ ''Operation Snatch'' (1962)

★ ''A Shot in the Dark'' (1964)

★ ''The Quiller Memorandum'' (1966)

★ ''Warning Shot'' (1967)

★ ''The Jungle Book'' (1967) (Voice)

★ ''Good Times'' (1967)

★ ''The Kremlin Letter'' (1970)

★ ''Endless Night'' (1971)

★ ''Doomwatch'' (1972)

External links

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