The George Coulouris Archive

An archive of material relating to George Coulouris, actor, (1903-1989) compiled by George Coulouris, jr., Email:

Career
A collection of material about his career, including a short biography, lists of films, theatre, radio programmes and TV work done by GC.

 Writing & Interviews
Includes a 1986 Guardian article about his Salford childhood, an extensive 1962 BBC talk entitled 'To Hollywood and Back' and some very witty material that he wrote for his unfinished memoirs.

 Photos
An album of photographs of George at work.

Obituaries

 Links

Extra material:


George in the late 1960's

Photo collage by Duncan Wallace

George (centre) as Walter Parks Thatcher in Citizen Kane 1940

George (right) as Marc Anthony opposite Orson Welles' Brutus in the Mercury Theatre's 1937 production of Julius Caesar in modern dress.
(A.L. Hirschfield's New York Times cartoon, courtesy © AL HIRSCHFELD/MARGO FEIDEN GALLERIES LTD., NEW YORK. www.alhirschfield.com)
You can find out more about George's involvement in the Mercury Theatre and their famous Julius Caesar production here (soon).
Click on an image to see a blow-up in another window

Blog

August 2011: New information on George's early career at the Cambridge Festival Theatre

We're extremely grateful to Paul Cornwell for his contribution of this list of George's performances in repertory at the Cambridge Festival Theatre, 1928-9 and some related information, the details of which were not previously available to us.


June 2010: Video of 1978 Interview with Astor Sklair

We're extremely grateful to George's friend Astor Sklair for contacting us and making this wonderful interview available. It's the only recorded interview of 'George as himself'. In it he is very forthcoming about his career experiences on stage and screen.
The video was made by Astor in his work as a film school tutor and has never been broadcast. The picture quality is not high, but the sound comes across quite well. The video runs for 40 minutes.


October 2009: A Biography

The Unholy Three: Screen Villains and English Gentlemen by John Hamilton,
© October 2009 ISBN 13: 978-1-887664-95-0.

The book includes about 100 pages on George's life and career, illustrated with many photos, quotes by him and other highlights. Carefully researched and written with insight. Highly recommended!

From Midnight Marquee the US publisher $25 + p & p
From Amazon.co.uk £29.75 (one instance where it doesn't pay to buy from Amazon!)


A web page dedicated to The Pathfinders in Space TV series (1960-2)

With some nice stills of George and even a clip from this early British space-fiction TV series.


Recently-acquired stills and programmes

We're extremely grateful to John Hamilton for making this painstakingly-gathered material available (2006). He collected it recently, mainly from film memorabilia shops in Los Angeles. link


Award

It has come to light that George won a National Board of Review 'Best Actor' award in 1941 for his performance as Walter Parks Thatcher in Citizen Kane. (Typically, he never mentioned this to his family or friends).


Centenary events

October 1st, 2003 was the centenary of George's birth. The following events celebrate his life and career:

  • The exhibition was accompanied by two talks at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery. Weds 9th June 2pm and Weds 8th September at 2pm: 
    George Coulouris 1903 - 1989: Former BBC producer Brian Dean talks about the life and career of this Salford-born actor in this the centenary year of his birth.
    The talk on June 9th was amazingly evocative of George and covered many fascinating details of his life and career - much enjoyed by the 20 or so Salfordians, family and friends who attended.
  • A centennial showing of Appointment with Venus was held at the Cornerhouse Cinema, Manchester on Wednesday, October 1st 2003, preceded by a short introductory talk.
    The event was very successful - Brian Dean and George Jr said some introductory words; the film was much appreciated, as were the drinks and conversation afterwards. There were about 40 people present including Sue, George, Elizabeth, Brian Dean, Anna, Jean, Gordon, Leonard Fenton and Jill, Russell Enoch (William Russell). Sarah Perks represented the Cornerhouse and was most friendly and helpful.

This is a Web-based version of the George Coulouris archive. Its purpose is to publish material about George Coulouris, the actor, that is held by members of his family.

As more material comes to hand, it will be added. Please send suggestions and contributions (in any format) to:


GC in 'The Master Race' RKO 1944
(from the Microsoft Cinemania database)

See also:

Wikipedia Entry - a brief but accurate summary of George's life.

Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry on George Coulouris


Home page | Career | Writing | Photos | Obituaries | Links

Compiled by George Coulouris jr, December 2000, Updated 2009.