George McFly

George Douglas McFly is a fictional character, a lead character in the first Back to the Future motion picture, played by actor Crispin Glover, and a minor character in the 2 sequels, played by Jeffrey Weissman. He did not appear in the animated series. He is the father of Dave, Linda and Marty McFly, and the husband of Lorraine Baines McFly.

George McFly was born on April 1, 1938 in Hill Valley, California (although the novel for the first film says his birthday is August 18, the April 1 date is seen on his tombstone in Back to the Future Part II). He was the only child of Arthur and Sylvia McFly, living on Sycamore Street, and by 1985 is married to Lorraine with whom he has three kids, Dave, Linda and Marty.

George was a nerdy kid who grew up to become a nerdy wimp who was unable to stand up for himself. He had few friends at high school and probably did not have that many afterwards. In the original timeline, George worked at an unidentified company where his supervisor was his old school bully Biff Tannen, whereas in the new timeline he writes sci-fi stories (in both timelines, he'd been writing the stories since high school). George likes watching sci-fi programmes and old shows such as The Honeymooners. He is not very "sporty" but does like playing tennis with his wife, and playing golf. His favorite beverage in 1955 was chocolate milk. The novel says that in 1955, George was very superstitious. He is a very cautious person, and not one to rush into things.

He also has a distinctive laugh.

Pre-Back to the Future

The novel for the first Back to the Future film reveals a little bit about George's past, pre-1955 which is when we first meet him (chronologically). When he was 12, he nearly stood up for a friend, Billy Stockhausen, who was being bullied, but did not, and has hated himself for it ever since. In 1954, he tried reading How to Win Friends and Influence People, but the advice he gained from this book made people stay away from him even more.

George was probably bullied from a very early age, not just by Biff but by other classmates such as Mark Dixon. He had been attracted to Lorraine for some time by 1955 (they may have met for the first time upon entering high school) but was too scared to ask her out.

Back to the Future

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George, aged 17, in 1955

In the original timeline, George and Lorraine fell in love when Lorraine's father Sam knocked George over in his car due to George falling out of a tree into the road (he had been "birdwatching", watching Lorraine get undressed from the tree). The Baines family took George into the house and Lorraine felt sorry for him. In a "Florence Nightingale" effect, she fell in love with him and they had their first date a week later, at the Enchantment Under The Sea dance.

George and Lorraine were married by 1963 when their first child Dave was born. Linda followed in 1966 and Marty in 1968. Despite these changes, George stayed much the same as he was when he was 17. He was dominated by his now supervisor Biff, most of his colleagues, and even his neighbors, and even kept the same hairstyle for 30 years. George did not develop the courage to stand up for himself or even for his wife, which depressed her so much that she became an alcoholic and tobacco smoker.

However, on November 5, 1955, history changed, when George's future son Marty (who had travelled back in time from 1985) pushed George out of the way of Sam Baines' car, thus changing history. Marty had a week to make sure George and Lorraine met or else he would never be born. However, George lacked the courage to ask Lorraine out, and she was more interested in Marty (not knowing who he really was). Marty tried matchmaking, to no avail, and eventually started helping George by visiting him in the night, dressed in a radiation suit and posing as an extra-terrestrial named Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan. "Vader" ordered George to ask Lorraine for a date or he will melt George's brain-out, and the next day George asked Marty for help in doing this.

After finding out that Lorraine wanted a man who would stand up for her and protect her, Marty came up with a plan to make Lorraine think George was that sort of man. He would pretend to "take advantage" of her at the Dance, and George would come to the "rescue". However, by the time George came to the car, he found Biff instead of Marty and Lorraine in real danger. George found the courage to punch Biff and knocked him out, saving Lorraine. She fell in love with him and they had their first kiss that night.

Because of this incident, George became much more confident with himself and others, and his life over the next 30 years was different to the original timeline. He went to college and became a professional author. George's sci-fi stories were now published, as he was now brave enough to let other people read them, and he and Lorraine enjoy many activities together. George will not let anyone walk over him any more and will stand up for both himself and his family. He lives by the motto, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything", advice given to him by his future son- Marty which originally came from Doc Brown. His first novel, which was delivered at the end of the film, was titled "A Match Made in Space" Its cover featured an illustration of a young man and a young woman, being brought together by a being which bore a striking resemblence to Marty's radiation suit.

Back to the Future Part II

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George, aged 77, in 2015

By 2015, George is still happily married to Lorraine, and enjoys the odd game of golf. He had hurt his back on October 21, 2015, and was being held upside down by a harness to treat it (in reality, this was to disguise the change in actor from Glover to Weissman).

However, later in the film, we discover an alternate version of history, thanks to Biff who had gone back to 1955 and given himself Gray's Sports Almanac results from the future. Biff now placed bets on results which he had the answers to, and became a millionaire. George became a campaigner against Biff's toxic waste company, Biffco, and probably was still writing in this version of history. On March 15 (referring to the Ides of March), 1973, Biff shot and murdered George in an alleyway. George was buried in Oak Park Cemetery. Luckily, Marty and Doc managed to restore history and the timeline reverted to normal, revealing that on the day of his "death", George had now won an award for his writing.

George became a minor character in the sequels when Crispin Glover refused to return due to salary disputes. Zemeckis and Gale, as a result, created a story that could sustain itself without him, hence the alternate history in which he is killed. Another actor was cast, wearing make up to resemble Glover, in the two sequels, in any new scenes shot. Part II re-used some footage of Glover from the first film. Glover successfully sued, resulting in new rules about the use of archival footage.

Back to the Future Part III

George only had one line in this film ("I can't find my other glasses. Lorraine, have you seen my glasses?"), and he is the same character he was at the end of the first film.

He did not appear in the ride or animated series.