profile picture

398125645

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

Biography:

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

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.

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.

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.

On April 23, 1972, George Sanders checked into a hotel near Barcelona. He was in poor health, lonely, bewildered, without a home: a woman he had taken up with in his last years had convinced him to sell his beloved house in Majorca. Two days later, his body was discovered next to five empty tubes of Nembutal. A 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."

-----------------------------
    Complete Filmography:1. Endless Night (1972) as Lippincott 2. Psychomania (1971) 3. The Kremlin Letter (1970) as The Warlock 4. The Body Stealers (1970) as General Armstrong 5. The Candy Man (1969) as Sidney Carter [Candy Man]6. One Step to Hell (1969) as Captain Phillips 7. The Best House in London (1969) as Sir Francis Leybourne 8. Warning Shot (1967) as Calvin York 9. The Jungle Book (1967) as Shere Khan The Tiger 10. Good Times (1967) as Mr. Mordicus11. The Quiller Memorandum (1966) as Gibbs 12. Trunk to Cairo (1966) as Professor Schlieben 13. The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965) as The Banker14. Ecco (1965) as Narrator 15. A Shot in the Dark (1964) as Benjamin Ballon 16. Dark Purpose (1964) as Raymond Fontaine 17. Cairo (1963) as Major Pickering 18. In Search of the Castaways (1962) as Thomas Ayerton 19. Operation Snatch (1962) as Major Hobson 20. Call Me Genius (1961) as Sir Charles Brouard 21. Five Golden Hours (1961) as Mr. Bing 22. Trouble in the Sky (1961) as Sir Arnold Hobbes, Queen's Counsel 23. Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons (1960) as Landru 24. The Last Voyage (1960) as Capt. Robert Adams 25. A Touch of Larceny (1960) as Sir Charles Holland 26. Village of the Damned (1960) as Gordon Zellaby 27. Solomon and Sheba (1959) as Adonijah 28. That Kind of Woman (1959) as The Man [A. L.] 29. From the Earth to the Moon (1958) as Stuyvesant Nicholl 30. The Whole Truth (1958) as Carliss 31. Outcasts of the City (1958) as Announcer 32. The Seventh Sin (1957) as Tim Waddington 33. Death of a Scoundrel (1956) as Clementi Sabourin 34. That Certain Feeling (1956) as Larry Larkin 35. While the City Sleeps (1956) as Mark Loving 36. Never Say Goodbye (1956) as Victor 37. The Scarlet Coat (1955) as Dr. Jonathan Odell 38. The King's Thief (1955) as Charles Ii 39. Night Freight (1955) as Radio Announcer 40. Moonfleet (1955) as Lord [James] Ashwood 41. The Big Tip Off (1955) as Orator 42. Jupiter's Darling (1955) as Fabius Maximus 43. King Richard and the Crusaders (1954) as King Richard The Lion-Hearted 44. Witness to Murder (1954) as Albert Richter 45. Call Me Madam (1953) as Gen. Cosmo Constantine 46. Ivanhoe (1953) as De Bois-Guilbert 47. Viaggio in Italia (1953) 48. Run for the Hills (1953) as Television Commentator 49. Assignment--Paris (1952) as Nick Strang 50. Hold That Line (1952) as Football Player 51. Captain Black Jack (1952) as Mike Alexander 52. The Light Touch (1951) as Felix Guignol 53. Kentucky Jubilee (1951) as Barker 54. I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951) as J. F. Noble 55. All About Eve (1950) as Addison Dewitt 56. Samson and Delilah (1950) as The Saran Of Gaza 57. The Fan (1949) as Lord Robert Darlington 58. Forever Amber (1947) as King Charles Ii 59. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) as Miles Fairley 60. The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947) as Georges Duroy 61. Lured (1947) as Robert Fleming 62. The Strange Woman (1946) as John Evered 63. A Scandal in Paris (1946) as Eugene-François Vidocq 64. The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945) as Harry Melville Quincy 65. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) as Lord Henry Wotton 66. Hangover Square (1945) as Dr. Allan Middleton 67. Summer Storm (1944) as Fedja Michailovitch Petroff 68. The Lodger (1944) as Inspector John Warwick 69. Action in Arabia (1944) as Michael Gordon 70. Paris After Dark (1943) as Dr. Andre Marbel 71. Appointment in Berlin (1943) as Keith Wilson 72. This Land Is Mine (1943) as George Lambert 73. They Came to Blow Up America (1943) as Carl Steelman 74. Quiet Please Murder (1943) as Jim Fleg 75. The Black Swan (1942) as Captain Billy Leech 76. The Falcon's Brother (1942) as Gay Lawrence, Also Known As "The Falcon" 77. Tales of Manhattan (1942) as Williams 78. The Moon and Sixpence (1942) as Charles Strickland 79. Her Cardboard Lover (1942) as Tony Barling 80. The Falcon Takes Over (1942) as Gay Lawrence, Also Known As "The Falcon" 81. Son of Fury (1942) as Sir Arthur Blake 82. A Date with the Falcon (1942) as Gay Lawrence "The Falcon" 83. The Gay Falcon (1941) as Gay Lawrence, Also Known As "The Falcon" 84. Sundown (1941) as Major [A. L.] Coombes 85. Man Hunt (1941) as [Major] Quive-Smith 86. Rage in Heaven (1941) as Ward Andrews 87. The Saint in Palm Springs (1941) as Simon Templar, Also Known As The Saint 88. The Son of Monte Cristo (1941) as [General] Gurko Lanen 89. Bitter Sweet (1940) as Baron Von Tranisch 90. Foreign Correspondent (1940) as [Scott] Ffolliott 91. The Saint Takes Over (1940) as Simon Templar, The Saint 92. So This Is London (1940) as Dr. Dereski 93. The House of Seven Gables (1940) as Jaffrey Pyncheon 94. Rebecca (1940) as Jack Favell 95. Green Hell (1940) as Forrester 96. The Saint's Double Trouble (1940) as Simon Templar, "The Saint"/Boss Duke Bates 97. Allegheny Uprising (1939) as Capt. Swanson 98. Nurse Edith Cavell (1939) as Capt. Heinrichs 99. The Saint in London (1939) as Simon Templar, Also Known As "The Saint" 100. Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) as [Franz] Schlager 101. The Saint Strikes Back (1939) as The Saint [Simon Templar] 102. Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939) as Eric Norvel 103. Four Men and a Prayer (1938) as Wyatt [Leigh] 104. International Settlement (1938) as Del Forbes 105. Lancer Spy (1937) as Lieutenant Michael Bruce 106. Slave Ship (1937) as Lefty 107. The Lady Escapes (1937) as Rene Blanchard 108. The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1937) as Indifference 109. Love Is News (1937) as Count Andre De Guyon 110. Lloyd's of London (1937) as Lord Everett Stacy
    Cast (Special): ------------------------------------------- 111. Frances Langford Presents (1959) as Guest in a Special (TV/Other) 112. You're the Top (1956) as Guest in a Special (TV/Other)

My Interests

I'd like to meet:

~TCM Summer Under The Stars - Current Featured Star.....~


My Blog

He was the smoothest of villans; a cool, dangerous cad

George Sanders was the smoothest of villains; a cool, dangerous cad who could outsneer Basil Rathbone and outpurr Vincent Price. He deployed irresistible charm with an edge of menace, qualified by a d...
Posted by on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:09:00 GMT

The Allure of the Cad, George Sanders

It would be disingenuous to deny that a certain element of adolescent fantasizing informs one's delight in Sanders' slithering, inexorable progress from boudoir to boudoir. But the cad's appeal r...
Posted by on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:26:00 GMT

An Unmitigated Cad!

"You, sir, are an unmitigated cad!" An Appreciation of George Sanders By GARY KAMIYA First and always, there was the voice: silky, insinuating, impeccable, its languid Oxford cadences reflecting a ...
Posted by on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:14:00 GMT