George Grizzard
George Grizzard | |
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George Grizzard with Patricia Barry in The Twilight Zone episode The Chaser. | |
Born | George Cooper Grizzard, Jr. (1928-04-01)April 1, 1928 Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, U.S. |
Died | October 2, 2007(2007-10-02) (aged 79) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1955–2006 |
Partner(s) | William Tynan[1] |
George Cooper Grizzard, Jr. (April 1, 1928 – October 2, 2007) was an American Emmy Award- and Tony Award-winning actor of film, stage, and television. He appeared in more than 40 films, dozens of television programs, and a number of Broadway plays.
Contents
1 Life and career
2 Death
3 Selected TV and filmography
4 References
5 External links
Life and career
Grizzard was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, the son of Mary Winifred (née Albritton) and George Cooper Grizzard, an accountant.[2]
Grizzard memorably appeared as an unscrupulous United States senator in the film Advise and Consent in 1962. His other theatrical films included the drama From the Terrace with Paul Newman (1960), the Western story Comes a Horseman with Jane Fonda (1978), and a Neil Simon comedy, Seems Like Old Times (1980).
Grizzard guest-starred several times during the 1990s on the NBC television drama Law & Order as defense attorney Arthur Gold. He also portrayed President John Adams in the Emmy Award-winning WNET-produced PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles. In 1975, Grizzard played a Ku Klux Klan attorney in the NBC-TV movie Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan about the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi.
Grizzard made his Broadway debut in The Desperate Hours in 1955. He was a frequent interpreter of the plays of Edward Albee, having appeared in the original 1962 production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Nick, as well as the 1996 revival of A Delicate Balance and the 2005 revival of Seascape. He also starred in You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running.
In 1980, he won an Emmy for his work in The Oldest Living Graduate. He starred as reporter Richard Larsen in The Deliberate Stranger, a television movie about serial killer Ted Bundy. He won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for A Delicate Balance. Additional Broadway credits include The Creation of the World and Other Business, The Glass Menagerie, The Country Girl, The Royal Family, and California Suite.
He also appeared in The Golden Girls as George Devereaux, the late husband of Blanche Devereaux (played by Rue McClanahan), as well as Jamie Devereaux, George's brother.
Grizzard made a guest-star appearance in the outdoor drama, The Lost Colony, as the comedy character Old Tom on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, in the summer of 1984. The show was directed by Joe Layton.
In 2001, Grizzard played Judge Dan Haywood in a stage production of Judgment at Nuremberg opposite Maximilian Schell under the production of actor Tony Randall. Grizzard appeared as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Kennedy Center in 2004.
Grizzard's last film appearance was in Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers.
He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2002.[3]
Death
Grizzard died in Manhattan of complications from lung cancer. According to his New York Times obituary, his only survivor was his long-time companion William Tynan. Grizzard had kept his sexuality private during his life.
Selected TV and filmography
Justice (1955-1956, TV)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956–1962, TV Series) - Alan Chatterton / Hubert Winter / Ted Lambert
The Twilight Zone (1960–1963, TV Series) - Alan Talbot / Walter Ryder, Jr. / Roger Shackleforth
From the Terrace (1960) - Alexander 'Lex' Porter
Thriller (1960, TV Series) - Merle Jenkins
Advise and Consent (1962) - Senator Fred Van Ackerman
Ben Casey (1963, TV Series) - Jonas King
Dr. Kildare (1964, TV Series) - Douglas Martin
Warning Shot (1967) - Walt Cody
Marcus Welby, M.D. A Portrait of Debbie (1971, TV Series) - George Adams
Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971) - Dr. Norbert Woodley
The Stranger Within (1974, TV Movie) - David Collins
Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975, TV Movie) - Attorney Clay
The Lives of Jenny Dolan (1975, TV Movie) - Ralph Stantlow
The Adams Chronicles (1976, TV Mini-Series) - John Adams
Hawaii 5-0 (1978, TV Series) - Al Marsh
Comes a Horseman (1978) - Neil Atkinson
Firepower (1979) - Leo Gelhorn
The Oldest Living Graduate (1980, TV Movie) - Floyd Kincaid
Seems Like Old Times (1980) - Governor
Wrong is Right (1982) - President Bedford Forrest “Frosty” Lockwood
Trapper John M.D. (1984, TV Series) - Vernon Shaw
Bachelor Party (1984) - Ed Thompson
Spenser: For Hire (1985, TV Series) - Frank Silverman
The Cosby Show (1985, TV Series) - Mr. Barker
Murder, She Wrote (1985–1988, TV Series) - Edmund Hall / Prof. Tyler Stoneham / Dr. Aubrey Benton
The Deliberate Stranger (1986, TV Movie) - Richard Larsen
The Golden Girls (1988–1990, TV Series) - George Devereaux / Jamie
Caroline? (1990, TV Movie) - Paul Carmichael
Alex Haley's Queen (1993, TV Mini-Series) - Mr. Cherry
Scarlett: Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind (1994, TV Mini-Series) - Henry Hamilton
3rd Rock from the Sun (1997–1998, TV Series) - George Albright
Wonder Boys (2000) - Fred Leer
Small Time Crooks (2000) - George Blint
Law & Order (1992–2000, TV Series) - Arthur Gold
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - John Bradley (final film role)
References
^ https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/theater/03grizzard.html?_r=0
^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/97/George-Grizzard.html
^ Broadway Beat - The Theatre Hall of Fame Awards by Richard Ridge Archived November 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
Robert Berkvist (3 October 2007). "George Grizzard, Actor Noted for Albee Roles, Dies at 79". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-02..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Grizzard. |
George Grizzard at the Internet Broadway Database
George Grizzard on IMDb
George Grizzard at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
George Grizzard at Find a Grave
George Grizzard papers, circa 1900-2007, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts