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George Maharis, the handsome Route 66 star who left the series at the height of its popularity, died Wednesday, May 24, at the age of 94.
His friend and caretaker Mark Bahan has confirmed the actor’s death on facebook Saturday.
“George is well known for his stardom [on ‘Route 66’], a stage production, a song, an artist, and most of all, a wonderful person who will do anything for anyone. Dear friend, you will be sorely missed,” he wrote.
Maharis was born on September 1, 1928 in New York City to Greek immigrant parents. After serving in the Marines, he studied at Actors Studio and worked off-Broadway in the late ’40s.
His television debut was in 1953, and his film debut was in 1958’s The Robbery.
After many early television appearances, including a bubbly portrayal of Marlon Brando in a 1955 episode of Brand’s friend Wally Cox’s Mr. Peepers, he rose to fame in 1960. was Route 66.
Maharis was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1962 for his charismatic performance as Buzz Murdoch, but by 1963 he had left the series, citing fatigue, and never regained his early brilliance.
Rumor has it that he would like to concentrate on films, including Quick, Before It Melts (1964), Sylvia (1965), Satan Bug (1965), Deal With Death (1967). 1967), “The Happening” (1967).
In the July 1973 issue of the then-new women’s magazine, Playgirl, Maharis posed nude, revealing more exposure than previous celebrities.
Gr8erDays.com report Decades later, he told Esquire.com of the experience, “No one told me it was a nude insert! No one mentioned it. We were filming and [the photographer kept saying] I said, ‘Well, I can’t show you that.’ is.”
His many other television appearances include the 13-episode series “The Most Deadly Game” (1970-1971), the mini-series “Rich Man, Poor Man” (1976) and the TV movie “Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby” (1976).
His last film was the 1993 Drew Barrymore thriller The Doppelganger.
No information on survivors.
