George Sanders

He was very hot when young, but did not age well.

OP, you may find this old and short thread of interest. He’s been discussed quite a lot over the years in relation to his films, especially All About Eve, and his marriage to Zsa Zsa Gabor.

I liked him in Village of the Damned. He was a little too old to be married to Barbara Shelley though.

He was good in Rebecca

Fabulous in All About Eve.

But that a drunk's face if I ever saw one.

That's a rough 66.

I’ve always loved George Sanders - he is one of those “ugly handsome” men. In all of the movies that he is in he is such a great character actor - he has a playful self confidence. Like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, Gene Hackman or Michael Caine - he was always interesting.

R7 KEVIN SPACEY????!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

Back before we knew what a sleep bag Kevin Spacey was he was handsome/not handsome sleepy funny in a lot of movies - he did Jim and Tammy, American Beauty, The Usual Suspects - yes he was dreadful in a lot of things including House of Cards. BUT I could see Kevin Spacey playing Addison De Witt in All About Eve. I could also see George Sanders playing Spacey’s part in L.A. Confidential.

Sleeze Bag not Sleep Bag!

Fun Fact: Was replaced as The Falcon by his own brother, Tom Conway (Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie).

Kevin Spacey is an odious, oily little creature with none of Sanders' obvious polish and charm. He's just a sarcastic little frog.

He's actually pretty sexy in his early roles in the '30s. He had what I'd call a "Nazi haircut" back then. Beautiful voice - born in St. Petersburg to British parents.

That voice! Perfection.

Heard he was reputed to be a bastard son of a Russian Prince. Was born in Russian & family emigrated to England. Loved him in everything. So elegant. Makes sense that he would be smitten by the Gabor Girls. Slavic men love Hungarian women, big time!

His brother had a very similar voice. He was also a chronic alcoholic which killed his career.

You're too short for that gesture.

[quote] What a great actor.

No he wasn't; he played EXACTLY the same character from the late 30s and the late 60s. His range of "acting" was as limited as John Wayne, Audie Murphy and Walter Brennan.

He was cold; none of his scenes conveyed ANY emotion.

^^^Your opinion. I loved him!!

He was maudlin and full of self pity. He was magnificent.

He had plenty of marriages to women but was still a raging HOMOSEXUAL.

I'll watch anything he's in. The voice, the carriage, the world-weariness of him, as well as his good looks, captivating. He was marvelous. His suicide note:

[quote]Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.

I just bought his memoir (digital version) a few weeks ago. It was published more than 60 years ago and I don’t think it’s ever been out of print. He’s a very good writer and has includes anecdotes.

[quote] his good looks

You must be blind. His eyes were too close together and his long nose became almost Karl-Malden-ish in his latter years.

He was good as the drag-queen in The Kremlin Letter

I loved the scene in Rebecca where he threatens to expose Max while brazenly eating a chicken leg before tossing it out the car window.

George Sanders was the poor man's Rex Harrison.

George took the supporting roles that Rex rejected. George lolled about in La La Land while Rex did his duty at home.

George and Rex appeared in two films together but Rex definitely got the top billing.

Rex got the Best Actor Oscar but did George get a Best Supporting Oscar?

If you want to see George Sanders as the romantic, watch Lured with Lucille Ball.

He stole *my* Oscar!!!!!

He would have made an amazing DLer.

Wasn't he in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir? The seductive, married man? Rex Harrison was in that movie. I like both actors. I don't think of George Sanders as a "poor man's" anything. If anything, it's the other way around!

I didn't know about his tragic death. Strokes are terrible. I can imagine being suicidal after having a big stroke.

R27

[quote] … while Rex did his duty at home

Is that what we’re calling killing Carol Landis these days?

George Sanders tried to kill himself a dozen times before he succeeded. He married Zsa Zsa Gabor, but she was a big cheater (pricey hooker), so they divorced. Then he married her almost twin sister, Magda. She was loyal, but he missed Zsa Zsa. They had a long-time affair while he was still married to Magda. Even after the two were caught, more than once, they didn't stop.

I learned about this stuff on CDAN from revealed blind items. DL won't let me post the link. Just go to crazydaaysandnights.net and type his name in the search box, if you're curious.

Both George and Rex had limited range, but could be magnificent within that range. But George comes across as more likable; I'd rather spend time with George than Rex.

R33 Before he mercy-married Kay Kendall.

His best role was Henry Wotton.

And what a task it is to utter Wilde's multisyllabic, tongue-twisting verbose epigrams.

George Sanders' most-used facial expression was the sneer.

How often do we see George Sanders smile or indulge in hearty laughter?

[quote] If you want to see George Sanders as the romantic, watch Lured with Lucille Ball.

And did George "get the girl" in this movie? It's not as if he had to compete with any major male sex symbols in that cast.

Paired with Marilyn Monroe as Miss Casswell, "a graduate of the Copacabana School of Dramatic Arts," in "All About Eve."

I liked him and thought he had a subtle sexiness. Think he still adds a lot to All about Eve. On other threads discussing beautiful female stars when people get picky about Hedy Lamar. George, who was around, worked with, married and fucked some of the most beautiful women on the planet said of Lamar, "so beautiful that everybody would stop talking when she came into a room." Quite a compliment.

I think he’s tremendous.

OP,

Your timing was good.

George Sanders died 50 years ago…April 25, 1972.

R43 Oh wow thank you for noticing. That was not my intention.

Sanders was also good as the shady lawyer Uncle Andrew in Endless Night.

He had a hot riposte but he couldn't live forever.

Especially with the suicide and all.

Thanks for the Thread OP. Loved him. Meeting him would be on my bucket list. I can see him at the Pearly Gates with St. Pete. He's smoking his fag. in its cig. holder.St. Pete as well, dishing on the line-up coming off the rainbow bridge. And the tales they could tell!!

Not a lot of range, but Hollywood needed capable people for second leads and B-pictures. His long speech at the Taft Hotel in New Haven to Eve is one of the best things in the film. It's difficult to do a monologue well and his pacing is perfect. In contrast, Baxter is just a one note ham. On rewatching, Baxter is the weak link in the film---we know she's playing an ambitious phony, but it would have been better if she'd been a bit less melodramatic. Hugh Marlow isn't great either (he rarely was), but his is a small part and the most consequential actions of his character are told to us more than shown.

In his suicide note, he wrote that he was bored with life.

His handsome brother, Tom Conway, also came to a bad end.

Thank you for the Ball film mention. Will check it out.

[quote] He was the quintessential British character actor.

1. He never got top billing (apart from some B movies) 2. He always played the same kind of character (well-dressed and snide) 3. He was exiled from Britain for decades (1933 to 1963)

[quote] He swallowed five bottle of Nembutal

I really don't see how anybody could swallow that many tablets (over 200) without vomiting them back.

[quote] What a great actor. --- No he wasn't; he played EXACTLY the same character from the late 30s and the late 60s. His range of "acting" was as limited as John Wayne, Audie Murphy and Walter Brennan.

But within that range Sanders perfected that character. He even titled his autobiography "Memoirs of a Professional Cad".

He was great.

His suicide note mentioned something about being "bored" in this life and he was done with it all.

Sad,

Sanders had 3 star roles in movies for that moderately successful homosexual director Albert Lewin (1894–1968).

Village of the Damned was wildly successful and Sanders was great in it.

[quote]Village of the Damned was wildly successful and Sanders was great in it.

It even got a 1964 sequel, "Children of the Damned" (without Sanders, whose character died in the first movie) and was remade in 1995 by director John Carpenter with a cast that included Christopher Reeve and Mark Hamill.

George Sanders killed Tyrone Power.

I looked at Sanders' IMDB bio and I was surprised to see that George Sanders played God.

I have no memory of it but it was strange, mulatto, misshapen, dubbed movie which never seems to be screened on TV where I live.

He also played godlike character in The Man Who Could Work Miracles.

The God of Indifference.

Very good movie.

R50, he was "exiled from Britain" for 30 years? Tell the story, never heard that.

He was the best Mister Freeze on Batman.

Menacing.

I got the impression he'd kidnap Robin and make Batman watch as Mister Freeze fucked him.

R60 Gross

Somehow I never had erotic thoughts about Mr. Freeze.

Yuck Rex Harrison is the worst. Sanders is leagues better. Harrison always seems entirely unlikable to me, while Sanders had a glint in his eye that made the bastards he played far more entertaining.

Love that Michael Fassbender is doing a pitch-perfect copy of Sanders voice in Inglourious Basterds.

R50 I think it was more that Hollywood wasn't giving him decent roles in the late 50s so he went back home.

ZsaZsa talks a lot about their relationship in this interview, and says he was probably the one great true love of her life, or somesing like dat.

r38 Check out "Call Me Madam" with DL fave/icon/diva Ethel Merman if you want to see a smiling, laughing AND singing(he had quite a good voice) George Sanders. He was cast against type and did it very well.

His brother, Tom Conway, did look a lot like him, with a bit of Errol Flynn thrown into the mix.

It's hard to describe that quality in his voice that so many people admire. He would've had plenty of work doing voiceovers if he hadn't become an actor.

There is something almost magical about Saunders. I cannot put my finger on it, but it was there.