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A most handsome, virile, not to mention charismatic rebel in 60s Hollywood, George Maharis was one of seven born to Greek immigrants in 1928. He expressed an early interest in singing and initially pursued it as a career, but extensive overuse damaged his untrained vocal chords and he subsequently veered towards an acting career. Trained at the Actor's Studio, he found minor parts on TV and secured a name for himself on the off-Broadway scene, especially with his performance in "Zoo Story" in 1960. Hollywood quickly beckoned and, after a small part in Exodus (1960), earned a major cult following as a Brandoesque drifter named Buzz Murdock on the "Route 66" (1960) TV series. Partnered with Martin Milner (later star of "Adam-12"), the duo traveled throughout the country in a hotshot convertible Corvette, picking up a huge female audience along the way. The seductive image of a fast rising star apparently got to George and he proved increasingly troublesome as he grew in stature. A bout with hepatitis and his ongoing clashes with both producers and co-star Milner led to his leaving the hit series after three years. The show didn't survive long without him. Brash and confident, he aggressively pursued films but found mostly duds with Quick Before It Melts (1964), Sylvia (1965), A Covenant with Death (1967), The Happening (1967), and The Desperados (1969) prime among his list of disasters. The best of his lot was the suspense drama, The Satan Bug (1965), but it didn't prove major box-office. Returning to TV in the 70s, George settled into a predictable pattern with lots of standard TV-movie action and a lead as a criminologist in the short-lived whodunit series "The Most Deadly Game" (1970). Along the way, he cut a few albums as a singer and appeared in nightclubs, summer stock and the occasional film, most notably as the resurrected warlock in The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982). But he was never able to recapture his former "bad boy" glory. An affirmed bachelor, his later years were spent focusing on impressionistic painting. He is now fully retired. |
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