George Chakiris

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

George Chakiris is an American actor and dancer, born on 16 September 1932 in Norwood, Ohio, the son of Greek immigrants from Turkey. In 1944 the family moved to Long Beach in California. He wanted a career as a dancer and, after a year at Long Beach City College, moved to Hollywood, where he worked in a department store by day and danced in the evenings. He made his film debut in 1947, at fifteen, in the chorus of Song of Love. In the 1950s he had small parts as a dancer in musicals, such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, White Christmas and Brigadoon.

Music and breakthrough

His breakthrough came when a close-up with Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas brought in a lot of fan mail, after which Paramount gave him a contract. Around 1958 he went to New York and was given a part in the Broadway musical West Side Story. He is best known as Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks, in the 1961 film version, for which he won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best supporting actor.

Influence

After West Side Story he appeared in Diamond Head and Kings of the Sun, and also began a career as a pop singer with the albums George Chakiris and Memories Are Made of This. Later he worked a great deal in Europe, including in Jacques Demy's The Young Girls of Rochefort. He also appeared in Company on tour and had guest roles in television series such as Hawaii Five-O and Murder, She Wrote. He himself said that many films after West Side Story were a waste of time. His name remains linked above all with Bernardo in West Side Story.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1962The Gershwin Songbook
• 1980Rappelle-toi

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• The Dream Factory: Film Reel 4^NL Reader