George Maharis obit

 

George Maharis, 'Route 66' Star, Dies at 94

He was not on the list.

George Maharis, the handsome star of "Route 66" who left the series at the peak of its popularity, died Wednesday, May 24, at 94.

His friend and caretaker Marc Bahan confirmed the actor's death on Facebook Saturday.

"George is well known for his stardom [on 'Route 66'], stage productions, singing, artist, and above all a great guy would do anything for anyone. My dear friend, you’ll be terribly missed," he wrote.

Maharis was born September 1, 1928, to Greek immigrant parents in NYC. After a stint in the Marines, he studied at the Actors Studio in the late '40s, working off-Broadway.

His TV debut came in 1953 and his film debut was 1958's "The Mugger."

Though he had a number of early-TV credits — juicily playing Marlon Brando on a 1955 episode of Brando's friend Wally Cox's "Mister Peepers" — it was "Route 66" that made him a household name in 1960.

Maharis was Emmy-nominated in 1962 for his charismatic performance as Buz Murdock, but by 1963, citing exhaustion, had left the series, which never regained its initial spark.

It was rumored he desired to focus on films, appearing in "Quick, Before It Melts" (1964), "Sylvia" (1965), "The Satan Bug" (1965), "A Covenant with Death" (1967), and "The Happening" (1967).

For the July 1973 issue of then-new women's mag Playgirl, Maharis posed nude, showing off quite a bit more than the celebrities who had preceded him.

Gr8erDays.com reports he told Esquire.com decades later of the experience, "Nobody told me it was a nude centerfold! Nobody mentioned it. We were doing the shooting and [the photographer kept saying] to me, 'Well, you can’t show that.' I said, 'For Christ’s sake, man, if it’s gonna be a nude centerfold, that’s what I was born with.'”

Among his many other TV appearances were the 13-episode series "The Most Deadly Game" (1970-1971), the miniseries "Rich Man, Poor Man" (1976), and the TV movie "Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby" (1976).

His final film was the 1993 Drew Barrymore thriller "Doppelganger."

There is no information on survivors.

 

Filmography

 

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1953    The Philco Television Playhouse            Dancer at the Dance Club    

1957            Goodyear Television Playhouse                    

1958    The Mugger            Nicholas Grecco         

1959    Brenner                       

1960    Alcoa Theatre Johnny Cesare

1959–60            Naked City      Johnny Gary    

1960    Exodus            Yaov   

1961            Splendor in the Grass              uncredited

1960–61            Search for Tomorrow            Bud Gardner           

1960–63            Route 66        Buz Murdock         

1963    The Judy Garland Show              

1964    Quick, Before It Melts            Peter Santelli

1965    Sylvia            Alan Macklin           

1965    The Satan Bug            Lee Barrett 

1965            Hullabaloo                  

1966    A Small Rebellion            Michael Kolinos            TV film

1966    Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Miles Catlan; Michael Kolinos           

1967    A Covenant with Death   Ben Lewis  

1967    The Happening            Taurus 

1967    The Danny Thomas Hour    Phil Pearson           

1968    Escape to Mindanao            Joe Walden            TV film

1968    Journey to the Unknown            Drake  

1969    The Desperados            Jacob Galt     

1969    The Monk   Gus Monk   TV film

1970    Land Raiders Paul Cardenas         

1970    El Último Día de la Guerra (The Last Day of the War)    Sgt. Chips Slater     

1970    The Most Deadly Game            Jonathan Croft

1971    Night Gallery Peter Lacland           

1971    Cade's County Deck Minty  

1971            Medical Center            Evan Kenbrook       

1972    Cannon            Paul Stubber           

1972    The Victim  Ben Chapel TV film

1973            Mission: Impossible            Thomas Bachman         

1973            Barnaby Jones Warren Davis   

1974    Movin' On       Harry Armour           

1974    The Wide World of Mystery            Walter 

1974    Shaft            Wally Doyle  

1974    Marcus Welby, M.D.            Curtis Haynes

1974    The Snoop Sisters            Robert Duware           

1974    Thriller            Mark Fields  

1974    Death in Space            Dr. Dan Summit            TV film

1974            McMillan & Wife            Walter Webley           

1974    Nakia            Joe Arnold 

1975    Murder on Flight 502            Robert Davenport            TV film

1976    Ellery Queen  Dr. Tony Bender   

1976    Rich Man, Poor Man     Joey Quales  TV miniseries

1976    Good Heavens            Gary Lawrence        

1976    Jigsaw John     Robert Derek  

1976    Bert D'Angelo/Superstar     Lee Mitchell           

1976    Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby    Guy Woodhouse            TV film

1976            Gibbsville                    

1976    The Bionic Woman            Sgt. Bob Welton     

1977    SST: Death Flight            Les Phillips  TV film

1977    Kojak            Ringer 

1973–77            Police Story    Sgt. Hank Delany; J.R. Peters; Salter  

1977    The Feather and Father Gang            Sherwin         

1977    Switch            Clouston         

1978    Return to Fantasy Island   Benson            TV film

1978    Logan's Run      Gavin  

1978    Crash            Evan Walsh   TV docudrama

1979–82            Fantasy Island   Joe Capos; Prof. Alan Blair; Mario Ferini; Dr. Hal Workman; Jack Becker    

1982    The Sword and the Sorcerer            Machelli, Cromwell War Chancellor           

1984    Matt Houston            Dr. Charles Brockway       

1984    The Master Simon Garrett

1989            Superboy        Jack McAlister        

1990            Murder, She Wrote            Alex Burton 

1993            Doppelganger  Mike Wallace