George E. Stone

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George E. Stone (born May 18, 1903 in Łódź , Poland as Gerschon Lichtenstein , † May 26, 1967 in Los Angeles , California , USA ) was a Polish-American actor .

life and career

At the age of ten, Stone emigrated with his family to America, where they lived in New Jersey . The thin, dark-haired Polish immigrant made his film debut in 1927 with the Oscar-winning drama Das Glück in der Mansarde . Although he was unnamed in the credits, this film and other appearances established him as a supporting actor in the late 1920s. Stone's role type consolidated itself in the embodiment of shady or criminal characters with often illustrious names. He had one of his best-known appearances as the henchman of Edward G. Robinson in the gangster classic The Little Caesar (1931). He also played in successful films outside the gangster genre, for example in the musical film The 42nd Street and in the western Pioneers of the Wild West .

With the end of the pre-code , the quality of his films dropped noticeably and he almost only played in B-films. During the Second World War he was seen in several anti-Nazi propaganda films, in which he often played foreign opponents of the Americans, such as the Japanese emperor Hirohito . From the 1950s, Stone increasingly turned back to larger films, but most of his roles remained small. He had a supporting role in the gangster film The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), where he played poker with Frank Sinatra ; In Some Like It Hot (1959) by Billy Wilder , he played the nervous police spy "Toothpick Charlie", who was executed in the Valentine's Day massacre . In the late stages of his career, George Stone made regular guest appearances on television. He had a recurring role as bailiff in 46 episodes of the Perry Mason series between 1958 and 1962. In 1962 he ended his acting career after about 180 film and television appearances.

In 1937 he married Ida Pleet, the marriage divorced only a year later. His second marriage to Marjorie Ramey between 1946 and 1948 also ended in divorce. In the last few years of his film career, Stone was almost blind, so that he could only complete acting appearances with the support of friends and family. He died of a heart attack in 1967 at the age of 64. The writer Damon Runyon was a good friend of his. George E. Stone has had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 1960 .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ George E. Stone at Latimes
personal data
SURNAME Stone, George E.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lichtenstein, Gerschon (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Łódź , Poland
DATE OF DEATH May 26, 1967
Place of death Los Angeles , California , USA