George Sanders

Birthday: 3 July 1906, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]

Birth Name: George Henry Sanders

Height: 191 cm

George Sanders was born of English parents in St. Petersburg, Russia. He worked in a Birmingham textile mill, in the tobacco business and as a writer in advertising. He entered show business in London as a chorus boy, going from there to cabaret, radio and theatrical understudy. His film debut, in 1936, was as Curly Randall in Find the Lady (1936). His U.S. debut, the same year, with Twentieth Century-Fox, was as Lord Everett Stacy in Lloyd's of London (1936). During the late 1930s and early 1940s he made a number of movies as Simon Templar--the Saint--and as Gay Lawrence, the Falcon. He played Nazis (Maj. Quive-Smith in Fritz Lang's Man Hunt (1941)), royalty (Charles II in Otto Preminger's Forever Amber (1947)), and biblical roles (Saran of Gaza in Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah (1949)). He won the 1950 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as theatre critic Addison De Witt in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve (1950). In 1957 he hosted a TV series, The George Sanders Mystery Theater (1957). He continued to play mostly villains and charming heels until his suicide in 1972. Show less «

[on being asked how he felt about his divorce from Zsa Zsa Gabor] Like a squeezed lemon.

I don't ask questions. I just take their money and use it for things that really interest me.

I am not one of those people who would rather act than eat. Quite the reverse. My own desire as a bo...Show more »

I am not one of those people who would rather act than eat. Quite the reverse. My own desire as a boy was to retire. That ambition has never changed. Show less «

I was beastly but never coarse. A high-class sort of heel.

On July 3, 1906, the world was at peace. Nothing of any consequence seemed to be happening in the ca...Show more »

On July 3, 1906, the world was at peace. Nothing of any consequence seemed to be happening in the capital cities of any of its countries. Nothing disturbed the summer lethargy of its population. Everywhere, people dozed contentedly, unaware that an event of major importance was taking place in St. Petersburg, Russia. At Number 6, Petroffski Ostroff, to Margaret and Henry Sanders, a son of dazzling beauty and infinite charm was being born. It was I. Show less «

A woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the more you beat them, the better they be.

[to Rex Reed's observation, "I understand you were a great fan of Tyrone Power"] Who told you that? ...Show more »

[to Rex Reed's observation, "I understand you were a great fan of Tyrone Power"] Who told you that? He died on the set of Solomon and Sheba (1959). But he was just someone I knew. One knew lots of people. Every film is like an ocean voyage, a transatlantic crossing. You swear you will meet each other again. But you never do. Show less «

Where on the screen I am invariably a son-of-a-bitch, in life I am a dear, dear boy.

The important thing for a star is to have an interesting face. He doesn't have to move it very much....Show more »

The important thing for a star is to have an interesting face. He doesn't have to move it very much. Editing and camerawork can always produce the desired illusion that a performance is being given. Show less «

Acting is like roller-skating. Once you know how to do it, it is neither stimulating nor exciting.

I never really thought I'd make the grade. And let's face it, I haven't.

George Sanders

George Sanders's FILMOGRAPHY

George Sanders'S roles

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