Tag: sanford meisner

George Maharis: Film History Series

Eddie Colbert, “George Maharis”, circa 1960s, Studio Portrait, Gelatin Silver Print, 20.3 x 25 cm, Private Collection

Born in the Astoria, Queens neighborhood of New York City in September of 1928, George Maharis was an American actor, singer and visual artist who appeared in off-Broadway shows as well as film and television series.

The third of six children born to Greek immigrants Vasidos and Demetra Stranis, George Maharis spent his formative years in the working-class Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of mid-town Manhattan. He attended the Flushing High School in Queens where he was recognized for his singing. Leaving high school before his graduation, Maharis joined the United States Marine Corps in which he served for eighteen months. Returning to school, he earned his high school diploma.

After graduation and appearances in several musicals outside New York City, Maharis achieved his first television acting role as Marlon Brando on NBC’s 1952 comedy series “Mister Peepers”, a situation comedy starring comedian Wally Cox. Maharis followed this role with classes at the Actors Studio under noted actors and teachers Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg. After acting with a stock theater in Cincinnati, he returned to New York City and received recognition for his roles in several off-Broadway productions.

George Maharis received critical acclaim for his roles in a production of Tennessee Williams’s “27 Wagons Full of  Cotton” and Jean Genet’s “Deathwatch. He won a Theatre World Award for his performance in playwright Edward Albee’s Off-Broadway premiere of “The Zoo City” at the Provincetown Playhouse in January of 1960. Despite this success, Maharis found it difficult to procure Broadway theater roles. He did find work in the field of television with roles in such shows as “Studio One”, “Kraft Television Theater, and screenwriter Stirling Silliphant’s procedural crime show “Naked City”.

Maharis began his film career with an uncredited role in director William Berke’s 1958 noir-crime film “The Mugger” and the credited role of Yoav in Otto Preminger’s 1960 epic historical drama “Exodus”. Beginning in 1960, he co-starred with actor Martin Milner in the CBS television series “Route 66”; his work in the series earned him an 1962 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Series. After appearances in eighty-two episodes, he left the series during its third season for health reasons including hepatitis.

George Harris returned briefly upon recovery; however, he left finally due to the effect of excessive work hours upon his health. After settling a contractual dispute in court with CBS, Maharis made one final appearance on “Route 66” in July of 1963. He began appearing in a series of starring film roles between 1964 and 1969 for several studios. Among these were Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s 1964 comedy “Quick, Before It Melts”, United Artist’s 1965 science-fiction suspense film “The Satan Bug”, and Columbia Pictures’s 1969 Western “The Desperados”.

Maharis returned to television in 1970 with the starring role as criminologist Ethan Arcane in Aaron Spelling’s 1970 “The Most Deadly Game”, a twelve episode series that ended in January of 1971. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he had featured roles in several television movies and appeared as a guest star in multiple television series, including “Mission: Impossible”, “Fantasy Island”, “Kojak”, “Police Story”, “McMillan & Wife”, and “Murder, She Wrote”. Maharis was also given the film role of Machelli Cromwell in Albert Pyun’s 1982  cult-classic “The Sword and the Sorcerer”.

Early in his career, George Maharis added singing to his theatrical acting. He began releasing albums and singles through the Epic Records label, his first being the 1962 “George Maharis Sings!” which peaked at number ten on the Billboard’s Album Chart. Maharis’s 1962 single “Teach Me Tonight” reached number eight on the Easy Listening Chart. His singing debut on television occurred in 1963 on Episode Eight of the “The Judy Garland Show”, aired on the twentieth of October, in which he sang “Side by Side” alongside Garland.

During an era of strict anti-homosexuality laws, Maharis did not publicly acknowledge a long-term or steady gay partner. His personal life and romantic relationships were largely kept private. When George Maharis died in Beverly Hills on the twenty-fourth of May in 2023 from hepatitis at the age of ninety-four, his death was confirmed by his longtime friend and caretaker Marc Bahan. Maharis’s body was cremated.

Notes: The Judy Garland Project website has an article on the eighth episode of “The Judy Garland Show” in which George Maharis, Jack Carter and The Dillards appeared:

https://judygarlandproject.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/the-judy-garland-show-with-george-maharis-jack-carter-and-the-dillards-show-8-aired-on-20th-october-1963/

The online “The Tinseltown Twins”, a site that offers information on classic movies, has an excellent article on George Maharis that includes photos as well as the full video of Season 1 Episode 1 of “Route 66” starring Maharis and Martin Milner: https://thetinseltowntwins.wordpress.com/2023/05/28/rip-george-maharis-1928-2023/

Top Insert Image: Photographer Unknown, “George Maharis as Buz Murdock”, 1960-1963, “Route 66” Studio Portrait, Color Print, Private Collection

Second Insert Image: Director John Sturges, “The Satan Bug”, 1965, Cinematographer Robert Surtees, Production John Sturges, United Artists

Third Insert Image: Director Lamont Johnson, “A Covenant with Death”, 1967, Cinematography Robert Burks, William Conrad Productions, Warner Brothers Pictures

Bottom Insert Image: David Livingston, “George Maharis, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences”, November 2006, Color Print, David Livingston/Getty Images

Johnny Francis Wolf

The Artwork of Johnny Francis Wolf

Born at the Woodhaven neighborhood of Queens, New York in May of 1958, Johnny Francis Wolf is a digital artist, actor, musician, poet and writer. 

Wolf began his acting career with studies under actress Suzanne Esper at the Esper Studio, a New York City drama school that is dedicated to the acting technique of American actor and teacher Sanford Meisner. The Meisner technique is designed to create believable behavior by utilizing three basic components: independent activity, repetition exercise, and emotional preparation to stay connected with scenic partners. Wolf also studied acting at the Weist-Barron School, the nation’s oldest school for on-camera acting, and, later, with actor and drama teacher Lloyd Williamson at New York City’s Actors Movement Studio.  

After appearing in many student and Indie short films on the east coast of the United States, Johnny Francis Wolf appeared in the co-starring role of Gabe Snow in screenwriter and director Jamie Nash’s 2007 indie horror-comedy “Two Front Teeth”. After the film’s production, Wolf relocated to Los Angeles to continue his pursuit of an acting career. Trained early in graphic design, he worked briefly as a textile designer for the Kidswear clothing company before deciding to focus on his abilities as writer and artist.  

As a writer, Wolf has written several volumes of narrative stories in both poetry and prose. An imaginative and creative storyteller, his work covers a wide range of emotion as his tales examine passengers on a subway, a young gay couple, a child fascinated by an unknown face, and other countless human interactions that occur during daily life. Wolf’s writings, issued through Wild Ink Publishing, include the 2023 two-volume series entitled “Men Unlike Others”, “Unapologetic” published in 2013, the 2024 poetry collection “Uncommon”, and his most recent work, the 2025 “Unbreakable”.

As an artist, Johnny Francis Wolf is a digital artist whose images combine photography with Photoshop, Illustrator and AI graphics.. Although the majority of his work is figurative, he also creates still lifes and multi-layered images that are abstractions and variations on patterns. Wolf’s digital work utilizes two basic effects, ink washes and watercolors, to create both strong and sensual images. Broad areas of light colors are particularly prominent in his three Erte series, a group of figurative images that closely  resemble watercolors; while other series by Wolf are executed in a more dark palette of painted blue and brown shades.

Notes: Johnny Francis Wolf’s art can be found on his website: https://johnny-francis-wolf.pixels.com

Johnny Francis Wolf’s published works can be found at the Wild Ink Publishing website, which also has the 2006 “Two Front Teeth” film in its entirety: https://wild-ink-publishing.com/johnny-francis-wolf/

An interview between Danish epic-fantasy series author Rune S. Nielsen and Johnny Francis Wolf can be found at Rune S. Nielsen’s website: https://runesnielsen.com/author/author-interviews/2023/11/1/author-interview-johnny-francis-wolf

Top Insert Image; Photographer Unknown, “Johnny Francis Wolf”, Gelatin Silver Print

Second Insert Image: Johnny Francis Wolf, “Italy 1 Marco”, Digital Art, Giclée Print, 52.1 x 91.4 cm

Bottom Insert Image: Johnny Francis Wolf, “Erté Mirror 5”, Digital Art, Giclée Print, 52.1 x 91.4 cm