Anthony George
Anthony George was an American actor mostly seen on television. He is best known for roles of Don Corey on Checkmate, Burke Devlin and Jeremiah Collins on Dark Shadows, Dr. Tony Vincente on Search for Tomorrow, and Dr. Will Vernon on One Life to Live.
Background
Anthony George was born in Endicott, New York, near Binghamton, the second son of Italian immigrant parents. From the age of six, George dreamed of being in films. After serving in World War II, George moved to Hollywood. Though the first few years were lean, by 1950, he had received his first credit and the work began to accumulate. The vast majority of George's roles were on television.Career
In 1955, George appeared as Sergei in the episode "Mightier Than the Sword" of the religion anthology television series, Crossroads, based on stories about American clergymen. He was cast as a Native American guide in the 1956 episode "Death in the Snow" of NBC's anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial; Cotten later returned the favor, guest-starring in the episode "Face in the Window" of Checkmate. George portrayed Native American roles in the CBS western series, Brave Eagle, starring Keith Larsen in the title role of a young Cheyenne chief who tries to maintain peace with the white community. George was cast in the episodes "The Treachery of At-Ta-Tu", as Night Wind in "Voice of the Serpent", and as Red Wing in "Witch Bear".In 1957, George appeared as Sancho Mendariz on the TV western Cheyenne in the episode, "The Spanish Grant". On July 31, 1957, George was cast as Nick Frazee, a bank robber who kills a deputy sheriff before making his getaway, in the episode "Hold Up" of the series The Sheriff of Cochise, in which Sheriff Frank Morgan, based in Cochise County, Arizona, establishes roadblocks in pursuit of Frazee and two of his men, but the fleeing bandits take an isolated road into the mountains.
In 1958, George played Clarence Miller, an escaped mental patient in an episode of Highway Patrol, a police drama starring Broderick Crawford. In January 1959, George played a Catholic priest, Padre John, in the episode "The Desperadoes" of the western series, Sugarfoot. Later in 1959, George was first cast as federal agent Cam Allison in the first season of ABC's The Untouchables, with Robert Stack. He appeared in twelve episodes before he landed his role on Checkmate. After Checkmate ended, he appeared as the title character in "The Johnny Masters Story" episode of Wagon Train.
George's longest-running success came from his decades-long career in daytime soap operas. In 1967, George replaced Mitchell Ryan as the brooding Burke Devlin on Dark Shadows. Some months later, the character was killed in a plane crash, and George created the role of Jeremiah Collins in a flashback to the year 1795. The story ran for most of 1967, until Jeremiah was killed off. George obtained further roles on CBS's Search for Tomorrow and One Life to Live. After being written out of One Life to Live in 1984, George continued to make sporadic film and television appearances. In 1988, he played the role of Alex Karides in "Baja, Humbug" in the CBS crime drama, Simon and Simon.
Death
Anthony George died of complications from emphysema. The New York Postreported in its edition of Friday, April 1, 2005, “Veteran actor Earl Holliman sent word yesterday that his pal, actor Anthony George, died March 16 in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 84.”.