George W. George

George W. George (February 8, 1920 – November 7, 2007) was an American theater, Broadway and film producer. His credits included the 1981 film "My Dinner With Andre" and several hit Broadway productions. cite news |first=Alison J.|last=Peterson |title= George W. George, at 87; writer, producer of films and Broadway plays |url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2007/11/20/george_w_george_at_87_writer_producer_of_films_and_broadway_plays|work= New York Times News Service |publisher=Boston Globe |date=2007-11-20|accessdate=2007-11-28]

Early life

George W. George was born as George Warren Goldberg in Manhattan on February 8, 1920. His parents were the well known cartoonist Rube Goldberg and his wife, Irma Seeman. George attended Williams College.

George's father, Rube Goldberg, often received hate mail for his political cartoons during World War II. Rube insisted that both of his sons, George and Thomas, change their surnames to protect themselves. When Thomas chose the last name of "George", George decided to take the same surname as his brother. The newly renamed George W. George wanted to keep a sense of family togetherness by having the same name as his brother.

Career

George W. George made his film producing debut with the 1957 documentary, "The James Dean Story", which was directed and produced by Robert Altman. Other films to his credit included "Rich Kids" in 1979, which was written by his wife, Judith Ross George and 1973's "Night Watch", which starred Elizabeth Taylor.

George's most well known film was "My Dinner With Andre", which was released in 1981. George co-produced the film with Beverly Karp. Starring Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, it opened to little enthusiasm but soon received critical acclaim and ultimately pulled in a $5 million dollar box office gross. At the time, five million was considered a good total for a low budget, independent film released in the early 1980s.

George made his Broadway debut in 1964 when he produced "Dylan", starring Sir Alec Guinness as Dylan Thomas and written by Sidney Michaels. George soon enjoyed a second consecutive hit with "Any Wednesday", which opened shortly after "Dylan". "Any Wednesday", a comedy which starred Sandy Dennis and Gene Hackman, ran for more than two years on Broadway and was made into a film. Other hits that George W. George produced include Alan Ayckbourn's "Bedroom Farce", which earned a Tony Awards nomination for best play in 1979, and "Ben Franklin in Paris", (1964) which starred Robert Preston.

However, despite a string of hits, George was not always successful. His less successful Broadway flops included "Happily Never After", which ran for only four shows, and "Via Galactica", which closed after just seven Broadway performances.

George W. George also worked as a television and film screenwriter in the 1950s and early 1960s. His television credits included "The Nevadan" and "Smoke Signal".

Death

George W. George died of Parkinson's disease in Manhattan on November 7, 2007. He was 87 years old.

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0313434|name=George W. George
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* [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2007/11/20/george_w_george_at_87_writer_producer_of_films_and_broadway_plays/ Boston Globe: George W. George, at 87; writer, producer of films and Broadway plays]