1. George Chakiris was born on September 16,1932 and is an American actor and dancer.
34 Facts About George Chakiris
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George Chakiris's family moved to Long Beach, California, in 1944.
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George Chakiris attended Jefferson Junior High school and was graduated in 1950 from Woodrow Wilson Classical High School, both in Long Beach.
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George Chakiris attended one year at Long Beach City College, but wanted to pursue a career in dance, so he dropped out and moved to Hollywood.
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George Chakiris made his film debut at age 15 in 1947 in the chorus of Song of Love.
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George Chakiris was a dancer in Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" number in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and he appeared in Give a Girl a Break and White Christmas.
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George Chakiris can be seen in the wedding dance in the MGM musical film Brigadoon, and appeared in There's No Business Like Show Business.
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George Chakiris was sometimes cast in non-Caucasian roles, including in West Side Story as a Puerto Rican and in Diamond Head as a native Hawaiian.
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George Chakiris appeared uncredited as a dancer in White Christmas, and his big break came when he appeared in a close-up with Rosemary Clooney while she sang "Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me".
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George Chakiris appeared in The Country Girl and The Girl Rush, dancing with Rosalind Russell in the latter.
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George Chakiris had a small non-dancing part in Under Fire.
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About 1958, frustrated with the progress of his career, George Chakiris left Hollywood for New York.
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The stage musical West Side Story had been running for a year on Broadway, and George Chakiris auditioned for Jerome Robbins.
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George Chakiris was cast in the London production as Riff, leader of the Jets.
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The musical launched on the West End in late 1958, and George Chakiris received excellent reviews, playing it for almost 22 months.
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The film adaptation of West Side Story was hugely successful, and George Chakiris won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.
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George Chakiris played the lead role in Two and Two Make Six, directed by Freddie Francis.
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George Chakiris starred as a doctor in the film Diamond Head, opposite Charlton Heston and Yvette Mimieux.
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George Chakiris went to Italy to make Bebo's Girl with Claudia Cardinale.
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George Chakiris acted in 633 Squadron, a war movie with Cliff Robertson, the last movie he made for the Mirisches.
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George Chakiris later said he made a mistake with his Hollywood films by looking at the "potential" of them instead of the quality of the roles.
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George Chakiris played a Greek terrorist in Cyprus in a British film, The High Bright Sun, with Dirk Bogarde.
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George Chakiris appeared with Catherine Deneuve and Gene Kelly in Jacques Demy's French musical film The Young Girls of Rochefort.
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George Chakiris appeared in The Day the Hot Line Got Hot in France, and The Big Cube with Lana Turner in America.
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George Chakiris made Sharon Vestida de Rojo in Spain.
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In 1969, George Chakiris did a stage production of The Corn Is Green in Chicago with Eileen Herlie.
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George Chakiris enjoyed the experience and it revived his confidence as an actor.
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George Chakiris accepted a dramatic role on TV's Medical Center to change his image.
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George Chakiris worked heavily on TV in the 1970s and 1980s in Britain and the US, guest-starring on Hawaii Five-O, Police Surgeon, Thriller, Notorious Woman, Wonder Woman, Fantasy Island, CHiPs, Matt Houston, Scarecrow and Mrs King, Poor Little Rich Girls, Hell Town and Murder, She Wrote.
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George Chakiris appeared in the final episode of The Partridge Family as an old high school boyfriend to Shirley Partridge.
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George Chakiris appeared in several episodes of Dallas and had a role on Santa Barbara.
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George Chakiris was top-billed in the vampire film Pale Blood.
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George Chakiris has given occasional television interviews since then, but is mostly retired.
34.
In 2021, George Chakiris appeared in the film Not to Forget, which aims to raise awareness and funds for the fight against Alzheimer's disease.