Who was George Sanders?

i know that ray davies name-checked him in "celluloid heroes" (which is why erik is asking about him?) i always presumed that he was some sort of early 20th-century british actor.

don't know anything other than that?

He was not gay to my knowledge. He was married a few times. His last two marriages were to Zsa Zsa and Magda Gabor, respectively. (Apparently ZZ drove him to distraction, and he took refuge on a houseboat for a while.) He killed himself in the early '70s. He wrote a book called, I think, Memoir of a Cad, which is very quotable. Douglas Sirk called him the smartest man in Hollywood.

Hope that helps.

http://www.ciudadfutura.com/elcriticon/sanders2.gif

According to IMDB, he was working in advertising when a secretary at the firm--Greer Garson--suggested he look into acting.

He was also Mr. Freeze on Batman the TV series, and the voice of Shere Khan the tiger in The Jungle Book,. I wish I'd seen more of his old films, like the ones Amateurist mentions. Addison DeWitt is one of my favorite characters.

http://www.tguk.net/films/pics_ik/kremlin.jpg

His performance in the Rossellini film referred to above is quite other-worldly.

Hello, I am in Wiltshire.

on another, similar thread...
Does anyone happen to know if these words, attributed to the dying Oscar Wilde, are fact or fiction:

"Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."

Thanks, every1, for making these posts so rootin-tootin interesting!
peace,
diane

Loving this Allan Warren portrait of George Sanders from 1972, the year he checked out with the suicide note: "I am leaving because I am bored." pic.twitter.com/BEYtgTvKrP

— BANDZ STACKHAGE (@NickPinkerton) November 15, 2017

New bored description

Well done! I can see your career rising in the East like the sun.

Recently observed during Halloween/Spooky Week RKO Lewton/Tourneur viewings that Tom Conway sounded just like George Sanders and is in fact his younger brother.

Conway even took over for Sanders in the role of The Falcon, the protagonist of a once popular film series I've never seen and only recently heard of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Falcon's_Brother

I was so surprised to find out he was Russian, because his screen persona was more English than English.

When I was a kid I saw Psychomania on TV and LOVED it. Thought it was the coolest flick. Was sad to learn years later that it was George Sanders' last film.

Launder and Gilliat, the Boultings etc.

Meant to say
Sounds good, still need to watch the British biker film mentioned here ^, The Damned.

The Damned is very good - perhaps I undersold it upthread - but in Psychomania bikers purposely kill themselves because they know they can come back from the dead (on bikes) which is amazing. It's all due to a psychedelic toad iirc.

What was the British movie I saw recently with a psychedelic toad angle? Oh yeah, Bird.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is good.

In addition to everything else, the cinematographer, Harry Stradling, won a well-deserved Oscar.

tl;dr https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/big%20screen%20classics/2024/03/28/picture-of-dorian-gray/

Sturges regular Jimmy Conlin and Skelton Knaggs from The Ghost Ship are both in it for a split second each.

Michael Koresky's take:
https://reverseshot.org/series/entry/1127/few_great_pumpkins_vii

Psychomania is on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGxQRA30jDY and is a must see.

If you don’t fancy watching the whole thing there’s a very funny interview with Nicky Henson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1-tDvENdkE

I'd recommend watching the whole thing! Absolute Brit biker zombie classic, nothing else like it out there. I'm amazed Rob Zombie hasn't remade it badly.