George Arliss specialized in successful biopics, such as Disraeli, Voltaire, and Cardinal Richelieu, as well as light comedies, which included The Millionaire and A Successful Calamity.
25 Facts About George Arliss
2.
George Arliss's career ranged from being a star of the legitimate theatre, then silent films, then sound films.
3.
George Arliss started work in the publishing office of his father, William Joseph Arliss Andrews, but left at age 18 to go on the stage.
4.
George Arliss embarked for a tour of America in 1901 in Mrs Patrick Campbell's troupe, intending to remain in the United States only for the length of the tour.
5.
George Arliss stayed for twenty years, making his Broadway debut in Magda.
6.
George Arliss eventually became a star in 1908 in The Devil.
7.
Producer George Tyler commissioned Louis Napoleon Parker in 1911 to write a play specifically tailored for Arliss, and the actor toured in Disraeli for five years, eventually becoming closely identified with the 19th-century British prime minister.
8.
George Arliss began his film career with The Devil, followed by Disraeli and four other silent films.
9.
George Arliss remade both The Green Goddess and Disraeli in sound in 1929, converting successfully at the age of 61 from a star of the legitimate theatre, and then silent films, to sound films.
10.
George Arliss built a production unit at Warners' both in front of and behind the cameras.
11.
George Arliss preferred to use the same reliable actors, such as Ivan Simpson and Charles Evans.
12.
Zanuck quickly signed George Arliss to make new films at 20th Century, prompting Warners' to complain to the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences that Zanuck had "stolen" their star.
13.
However, that did not prevent George Arliss from using another actress when Flo was not right for a role.
14.
Also, Flo turned down roles that George Arliss wanted her to play in some films.
15.
George Arliss is best remembered primarily for his witty series of historical biopics, such as Alexander Hamilton, Voltaire, The House of Rothschild, The Iron Duke, and Cardinal Richelieu.
16.
George Arliss was approaching 70 when he completed the British-made Doctor Syn in 1937.
17.
The only taint of scandal involved charges by the British Government in September 1941 that George Arliss had not complied with a recent requirement to report bank accounts he maintained in the US and Canada.
18.
On 14 September 1899, George Arliss married Florence George Arliss, to whom he was married until his death.
19.
George Arliss was a prominent anti-vivisectionist who founded the National Anti-Vivisection Society of Chicago.
20.
George Arliss was president of the Episcopal Actors' Guild of America from 1921 to 1938.
21.
George Arliss was a strict vegetarian, stating that "I eat nothing I can pat".
22.
George Arliss walked four miles each day and took interest in aerobics.
23.
George Arliss's gravestone spurns his success in the performing arts in favor of the one achievement of which he was apparently most proud: an honorary Master of Arts degree he received from Columbia University in 1919.
24.
George Arliss wrote the autobiography Up the Years from Bloomsbury in 1927.
25.
George Arliss was a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.