George Grizzard
Grizzard andPatricia Barry in the episode "The Chaser" of the television seriesThe Twilight Zone
Born	George Cooper Grizzard Jr. (1928-04-01)April 1, 1928 Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	October 2, 2007(2007-10-02) (aged 79) Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Education	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1955–2006
Partner	William Tynan

George Cooper Grizzard Jr. (April 1, 1928 – October 2, 2007) was an American stage, television, and film actor.^[1] He was the recipient of aGrammy Award, aPrimetime Emmy Award and aTony Award, among other accolades.

Grizzard was born inRoanoke Rapids, North Carolina and raised in Washington, DC. He once told an interviewer that he was "an only child and probably very lonely, so I made up children to play with — Gene and Bounds and Mrs. Pig and Mrs. Hog and their children and a town called Scottina. It was all a child's fantasy, but I guess that just kind of developed into wanting to create people."^[1] He appeared in student productions in junior high school and decided to become an actor while attendingWoodrow Wilson High School in Washington, where he was president of the drama club. He went on to theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied advertising and drama.^[2]

He returned to Washington after graduation to work in advertising while appearing inamateur productions. He began his professional acting career in 1950 at Washington'sArena Stage, appearing in some of its earliest productions, with his first leading role inDark of the Moon. He went to New York frequently for stage roles, and studied withSanford Meisner,Philip Burton, andAlan Schneider.^[2]

Grizzard's stage debut was as the Miner inThe Corn Is Green in 1944.^[2] He made hisBroadway debut inThe Desperate Hours in 1955, about jailbreakers terrorizing a family, in which he played Hank Griffith, the younger brother of a character played byPaul Newman.^[1] He frequently appeared in the plays ofEdward Albee, and was in the original 1962 production ofWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He played Nick alongsideMelinda Dillon as his wife Honey, a young couple visitingUta Hagen andArthur Hill as the warring spouses, Martha and George.^[1] The role won him aGrammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album along with his castmates.

Grizzard played an unscrupulousUnited States Senator in the filmAdvise and Consent in 1962. Beginning in 1963, Grizzard was a member of the original company of theGuthrie Theater in Minneapolis, which also includedJessica Tandy andHume Cronyn. He played the title role in the Guthrie's inaugural production ofHamlet alongside Tandy, and featured in many productions from the Guthrie's first two seasons, including roles inHenry V,Three Sisters, andSaint Joan.

Grizzard also appeared on Broadway inThe Disenchanted in 1958,Face of a Hero in I960 andBig Fish, Little Fish in 1961.^[2]

His film roles included the dramaFrom the Terrace withPaul Newman (1960), theWesternComes a Horseman withJane Fonda (1978), and a Neil Simon comedy,Seems Like Old Times (1980).^[1]

He also appeared in the 1996 revival ofA Delicate Balance and the 2005 revival ofSeascape. He also starred inYou Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running. He won the 1996 Tony Award forBest Actor in a Play forA Delicate Balance. Additional Broadway credits includeThe Creation of the World and Other Business,The Glass Menagerie,The Country Girl,The Royal Family, andCalifornia Suite.^[1]

His many television credits include guest-starring roles on shows such asThe Twilight Zone,Alfred Hitchcock Presents,Ironside,Rawhide,Hawaii Five-O,Ben Casey,Dr. Kildare,The Golden Girls,The Cosby Show, andMurder, She Wrote.^[3]

Grizzard guest-starred several times during the 1990s on theNBC television dramaLaw & Order as defense attorney Arthur Gold. He also portrayed PresidentJohn Adams in the Emmy Award winningPBSminiseriesThe Adams Chronicles, produced byWNET. In 1980, he won an Emmy for his work inThe Oldest Living Graduate. He starred as reporter Richard Larsen inThe Deliberate Stranger, a television movie about serial killerTed Bundy.^[1][4]

Grizzard declined to discuss his acting technique, saying it was intensely personal, and that he "didn't think it was anybody's business." But he once said that actors needed to "have this mystery to lure an audience in order for them to do part of your work, to involve them. Don't do it all for them."^[2]

He was inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame in 2002.^[5]

Grizzard died inManhattan of complications from lung cancer in 2007. According to hisNew York Times obituary, his only survivor was his partner, William Tynan.^[1]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toGeorge Grizzard.

• George Grizzard at theInternet Broadway Database
• George Grizzard atIMDb
• George Grizzard at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• George Grizzard atFind a Grave
• George Grizzard papers, circa 1900-2007, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
• Edward Albee on George Grizzard

• 1928 births
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