George W. George

George W. George (born George Warren Goldberg, 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.[1]

George W. George
Born
George Warren Goldberg

(1920-02-08)February 8, 1920
Manhattan, New York, US
DiedNovember 7, 2007(2007-11-07) (aged 87)
Manhattan, New York, US
Alma materWilliams College
OccupationActor, film producer, screenwriter
Children1
Parent(s)

Early life

George Warren Goldberg was born in Manhattan on February 8, 1920.[1] His parents were the cartoonist Rube Goldberg and Goldberg's wife, Irma Seeman.[1] George attended Williams College.[1]

George's father, Rube Goldberg, often received hate mail for his political cartoons during World War II.[1] Rube insisted that both of his sons, George and Thomas, change their surnames to protect themselves.[1] When Thomas chose the last name "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.[1]

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.[1] Other films to his credit included Rich Kids in 1979, which was written by his wife, Judith Ross George[1] and 1973's Night Watch, which starred Elizabeth Taylor.[1]

George's most well known film was My Dinner With Andre, which was released in 1981. George co-produced the film with Beverly Karp.[1] 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.[1] At the time, five million was considered a good total for a low-budget, independent film.[1]

George made his Broadway debut in 1964 when he produced Dylan, starring Sir Alec Guinness as Dylan Thomas and written by Sidney Michaels.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1]

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.[1] His final Broadway credit was for the conception of the musical Memphis, which opened on Broadway in 2009, a few years after George's passing.[2]

George W. George also worked as a television and film screenwriter in the 1950s and early 1960s.[1] His television credits included The Nevadan, Peter Gunn and Smoke Signal[1] "The Rifleman". He and his wife Judith also wrote storylines and screenplays for the ABC television series Combat!, including the episode "The Chateau".[3] With composer/lyricist Matty Selman, he wrote a musical about his father, titled Young Rube.[4]

George had a daughter Jennifer, born in 1960.

Death

George W. George died of Parkinson's disease in Manhattan on November 7, 2007. He was 87 years old.[1]

References
  1. Peterson, Alison J. (2007-11-20). "George W. George, at 87; writer, producer of films and Broadway plays". Boston Globe. New York Times News Service. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  2. Memphis at the Internet Broadway Database
  3. opening credits of this episode
  4. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/21/theater/review-theater-young-rube-goldberg-at-a-turning-point.html
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