John George (actor)

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Syrian-American actor (1898–1968)

title: "John George (actor)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1898-births", "1968-deaths", "american-male-silent-film-actors", "american-people-of-syrian-descent", "american-actors-with-dwarfism", "emigrants-from-the-ottoman-empire-to-the-united-states", "entertainers-from-aleppo", "syrian-male-film-actors", "20th-century-american-male-actors"] description: "Syrian-American actor (1898–1968)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_George_(actor)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Syrian-American actor (1898–1968) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameJohn George
native_nameجون جورج
imageJohn George in Mesa of Lost Women 3.jpg
captionGeorge in Mesa of Lost Women (1953)
birth_nameTufei Fatella
birth_date
birth_placeAleppo, Ottoman Syria
death_date
death_placeLos Angeles, California, U.S.
occupationActor
years_active1916–1961
::

| name = John George | native_name = جون جورج | image = John George in Mesa of Lost Women 3.jpg | caption = George in Mesa of Lost Women (1953) | birth_name = Tufei Fatella | birth_date = | birth_place = Aleppo, Ottoman Syria | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1916–1961

John George (; born Tufei Fatella, January 20, 1898 – August 25, 1968) was a Syrian-American actor who appeared in at least 130 movies from 1916 to 1960. George worked in films of all genres alongside countless stars although often for only the briefest of appearances, uncredited.

Early years

George was born in Aleppo, Syria. Little is known about his early life but he immigrated to the United States around 1911 and searched for his mother and sisters who seem to have settled in the Nashville, Tennessee, area.

Film

Eventually George found his way to Los Angeles and the early silent film industry. George may have begun his career in the Joseph De Grasse movie Bobbie of the Ballet (1916) as an uncredited "tenement dweller". George may have even appeared earlier than that in the 1915 serial The Broken Coin unbilled, as an actor who strongly favors him appears in a still photo from the chapter play with Francis Ford and Grace Cunard in Daniel Blum's Pictorial History of the Silent Screen.

George went on to appear in Rex Ingram's Gothic melodrama Black Orchids (1917) as a character named Ali Bara. George worked in dozens of movies for Rex Ingram until 1926 when Ingram, tired of George's gambling, sent him home on a bus.

George became a regular in several 1920s silent films with Lon Chaney both at Universal Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including The Road to Mandalay, The Big City, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Outside The Law and The Unknown. He also appeared in the Warner Brothers production Don Juan (1926) opposite John Barrymore, where he was the cruel dwarf Castle Keeper/Informer who delighted in exposing to Don Jose (Don Juan's father) the infidelities of his wife with another man. He also played Barnaby's minion in the 1934 Babes in Toyland. George continued to appear in movie after movie until some time near his death. One of his last roles was in 1956, an uncredited one as “A Barfly” in James Arness's TV Western Series Gunsmoke, S1E21's “Helping Hand”.

Death

On August 25, 1968, George died from emphysema at age 70 in Los Angeles.

Partial filmography

References

References

  1. "Liliput bizarro y loco: Enanos en la pantalla".
  2. (2001). "The Stars of Hollywood Forever". Lulu.com.
  3. ''Pictorial History of the Silent Screen'' by Daniel Blum (1953) page 81 ("The Broken Coin", still)
  4. "The Unknown".
  5. Everson, William K. The Complete Films of Laurel and Hardy. New York: Citadel, 2000, (first edition 1967). {{ISBN. 0-8065-0146-4.
  6. [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=george&GSfn=john&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GSsr=161&GRid=6498600&df=all& John George; findagrave.com] Retrieved December 16, 2016

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1898-births1968-deathsamerican-male-silent-film-actorsamerican-people-of-syrian-descentamerican-actors-with-dwarfismemigrants-from-the-ottoman-empire-to-the-united-statesentertainers-from-alepposyrian-male-film-actors20th-century-american-male-actors