Christopher George
Christopher George (b. February 25 1929, Royal Oak, Michigan - d. November 28 1983, Los Angeles) was an American television and film actor who was best known for his starring role in the 1966-1968 TV series The Rat Patrol. He was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1967 as Best TV Star for his performance in the series. George was also the long-time husband of actress of Lynda Day George.
George first rose to prominence in 1966 playing a supporting role in the Howard Hawks-directed western film El Dorado, which starred John Wayne. George and Wayne became friends while shooting the film and would co-star in two additional westerns including Chisum in 1970 and The Train Robbers in 1973.
For two seasons and 58 episodes, George played the lead role of Sergeant Sam Troy in The Rat Patrol. The show followed the exploits of four allied soldiers who were part of a long range desert patrol group in the North African campaign during World War II. Following cancellation of the series, George played the lead role in several B-movies of the 1960s including Tiger by the Tail (1968), Project X (1968) and The Devil’s 8 (1969). In 1969, George portrayed Ben Richards in the pilot movie for The Immortal. The film was picked up as a TV series and ran for 15 episodes from 1970-1971.
George first met actress Lynda Day when they starred together in the 1966 independent film The Gentle Rain. They would star together again four years later in Chisum, where they fell in love and soon married. Thereafter, Lynda became Lynda Day George and co-starred with Christopher in multiple television films over the next 10 years including House on Greenapple Road (1970), Mayday at 40,000 Feet (1976) and Cruise Into Terror (1978). They also worked together in episodes of The F.B.I. (1970), Mission: Impossible (1971), McCloud (1975), Wonder Woman (1976), Love Boat (1977) and Vega$ (1978).
Christopher continued his television work throughout the 1970s with guest roles on many popular series including Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Police Story, S.W.A.T., Charlie's Angels and Fantasy Island. He also surprised fans by posing nude for Playgirl magazine in the June, 1974 issue.
In 1976, Christopher played a supporting role in the all-star World War II epic Midway. That same year, he would play the lead role of Ranger Michael Kelly in the Film Ventures International independent film Grizzly. A thinly-veiled Jaws clone, the animal horror thriller became one of the most popular films of Christopher's career earning more than $39 million at the box office.
Christopher followed that success with a busy string of B-movie excursions over the next seven years including Dixie Dynamite (1976) co-starring Warren Oates; The Day of the Animals (1977) co-starring Lynda Day George and Leslie Nielsen; Whiskey Mountain (1977); the notoriously violent zombie thriller City of the Living Dead (1980); The Exterminator (1980); the slasher film Graduation Day (1981); Enter the Ninja (1981); Pieces (1982) co-starring Lynda Day George; and the horror film Mortuary (1983) co-starring Lynda Day George and Bill Paxton. Many of these works have since achieved cult film status.
Soon after the completion of Mortuary in 1983, Christopher died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 54. A contributing factor to his heart attack is believed to have been a 1967 mishap suffered on the set of The Rat Patrol when, filming a chase scene, his jeep flipped over and pinned him beneath the vehicle. The accident caused Christopher to sustain a cardiac contusion. His death devastated his wife Lynda, and afterwards only worked sporadically in television guest roles until her retirement in the early 1990s. He is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Christopher's niece is Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White.