| George Hamilton |
Hamilton in August 2009 |
| Born |
George Stevens Hamilton
August 12, 1939 (1939-08-12) (age 70)
Memphis, Tennessee,
United States |
| Occupation |
Actor |
| Years active |
1952–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Alana Stewart (1972-1975) |
| Domestic partner(s) |
Kimberly Blackford (1997-1999) |
George Stevens Hamilton (born August 12, 1939) is an American film and television actor.
Early life
Hamilton was the eldest son of society band leader George "Spike" Hamilton[1][2] and his first wife, Ann Stevens (formerly Mrs. William Potter). He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Bytheville, Arkansas, until the age of 36. He won many awards as a student at Palm Beach Lakes Community High School. The 2009 film My One and Only is loosely based on Hamilton's early life and relationship with his mother.
After moving to California, he was put under contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which showcased him in films such as Home from the Hill, All the Fine Young Cannibals, Light in the Piazza and Two Weeks in Another Town.
His stepfathers were Carleton Hunt and Jesse Spalding; his stepmother was June Howard, with whom Hamilton has said he had an affair when he was 12, shortly after she married his father.[3][4] His elder half-brother, William Potter, became an interior decorator for such prestige firms as Eva Gabor Interiors in Palm Springs, where Hamilton owned a home a few blocks away from Elvis Presley and his manager Colonel Tom Parker, who became his good friend. Hamilton also has a younger brother, David Hamilton.
Career
Hamilton began his film career in 1952. Although he has a substantial body of work in film and television, he is perhaps most famous for his debonair style and, specifically, his perfect and perpetual suntan.
With his matinee-idol looks, it was sometimes noted that he physically resembled Warren Beatty; Beatty's political satire Bulworth contained a running gag about this, with Hamilton appearing as himself in a brief cameo.
One of his most well-known MGM films was 1960's Where the Boys Are, a coming-of-age romantic comedy set during a college-student spring break in the Fort Lauderdale area of Florida in which Hamilton played a smooth Ivy League type. Hamilton received a Golden Globe award in 1960 as Most Promising Newcomer (Male).
He went on to a starring role along with George Peppard as a soldier in 1963's The Victors, a World War II story, and as a Confederate captain who kidnaps the wife of a Union officer (Glenn Ford) in a 1967 drama, A Time for Killing.
Hamilton made two memorable bio-pics: Your Cheatin' Heart (1964), in which he portrayed the country-western music legend Hank Williams, followed by Evel Knievel (1971), the life story of the motorcycle daredevil.
A surprise blockbuster hit came his way in 1979 when Hamilton showed an unforeseen flair for comedy. Love at First Bite was the story of vampire Count Dracula's pursuit of a young Manhattan socialite, played by Susan Saint James. It included such funny scenes as Dracula and his conquest dancing to "I Love the Night Life" at a disco.
That film's box-office success created a popularity surge for Hamilton, who followed it with a comic portrayal of a famed swordsman in 1981's Zorro, the Gay Blade. He was nominated for Golden Globe awards for both Love at First Bite and Zorro.
Film leads dried up quickly, however. In the mid-1980s, Hamilton starred in the sixth season of the ABC Aaron Spelling-produced nighttime television serial Dynasty. Having once played a doctor who uses hypnosis to commit a murder on a 1975 episode of Columbo, Hamilton returned for a second homicide on that long-running Peter Falk detective series in 1991, this time playing the host of an America's Most Wanted-style television show. He later became a semi-regular panelist on the 1998 revival of Match Game.
A big movie break for Hamilton came in 1990 when Francis Coppola cast him as the Corleone family's lawyer in a much-anticipated film, The Godfather, Part III.
In 2003, he hosted The Family, a reality television series on ABC spanning one season in 2003. It starred 10 members from a traditional Italian-American family, each fighting for a $1,000,000 prize.
In 2006, he competed in the second season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars[5] and lasted until the sixth round before being voted off. At age 66 and recovering from knee injuries, Hamilton, unable to match the limber dance moves of his younger competitors, charmed the audience and judges with endearingly silly dances utilizing props including a Zorro mask and sword from Zorro, The Gay Blade.
Also in 2006, it was rumored Hamilton would replace Bob Barker on The Price Is Right. He did an audition and in March 2007, TMZ reported that Hamilton was a frontrunner to replace Barker. According to Reuters, Hamilton was one of the final three contenders to host the show, alongside Mark Steines and Todd Newton.[6] Soon thereafter, however, Drew Carey was named as Barker's successor. Subsequently, Hamilton has hosted the live stage adaptation of the show, The Price Is Right Live!.
In August of 2008, Hamilton co-starred in Coma, a web series on Crackle.[7]
In 2009, the film My One and Only is a dramatization of his earlier life.
Hamilton is currently (November 2009) appearing on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.
Personal life
In 1966, Hamilton had a relationship with Lynda Bird Johnson, the daughter of the President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson.[8]
Hamilton was married to actress Alana Stewart from 1972 to 1975. Their son, Ashley Hamilton, was born in 1974. George Thomas Hamilton is his younger son (born in January 2000) with Kimberly Blackford.
The divorced Hamiltons reunited in the mid-'90s to co-host a daytime talk show, George & Alana.
Associated forever with his suntan, Hamilton in the late 1980s launched a line of skin-care products and tanning salons. A cigar lounge bearing his name was opened in the 1990s at the New York, New York hotel in Las Vegas, along with a line of cigars bearing the actor's name. A January 1998 article in Cigar Aficionado magazine described Hamilton's style as "Cary Grant meets Pat Riley".
In April 2006, Hamilton served as Grand Marshal for the 79th Annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Virginia.
Filmography
Books
- Life's Little Pleasures (co-authored with Alysse Minkoff) (1998)
- Don't Mind If I Do or do I (co-authored with William Stadiem) (2008)
References
- ^ George Hamilton Biography (1939-) from filmreference.com
- ^ "George Hamilton Stevens."1 from freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com
- ^ "'I had an affair with my stepmother when I was 12,' reveals George Hamilton ." Daily Mail.. October 17, 2008.
- ^ Beifuss, John. "From Blytheville to Hollywood, George Hamilton looks back in memoir." Commercial Appeal. November 4, 2008.
- ^ Dancing With The Stars - ABC.com
- ^ Trio remaining in Price line from Reuters
- ^ "Michael Madsen, George Hamilton and Paul Ben-Victor Star in Coma, an Original Web Series Premiering On Crackle.com". webwire.com. 2008-08-22. http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=73148. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ Lynda Bird Johnson, actor George Hamilton and Winifred Reynolds outside First Christ, Scientist, in Beverly Hills, Calif., 1966, a Los Angeles Times photograph published March 18, 1966, from the website of the UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library
External links
