George Coulouris | |
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Coulouris as Thatcher in Citizen Kane (1941)
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Born |
George Alexander Coulouris 1 October 1903 Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK |
Died | 25 April 1989 London, England, UK |
(aged 85)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1926–1985 |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Donaldson (1977–1989) (his death) Louise Franklin (1930–1976) (her death) 2 children |
Children |
George Coulouris Mary Louise Coulouris |
George Coulouris (1 October 1903 – 25 April 1989) was an English film and stage actor.
Coulouris was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, the son of Abigail (née Redfern) and Nicholas Coulouris, a merchant of Greek origin. He was brought up both in Manchester and nearby Urmston and was educated at Manchester Grammar School. He attended London's Central School of Speech and Drama, in the company of fellow students Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.
Coulouris made his stage debut in 1926 with Henry V at the Old Vic. By 1929 he made his first Broadway appearance, followed by his first Hollywood film role in 1933.
A major impact on his life was Orson Welles, whom he met in 1936 when they both had roles in the Broadway production of Sidney Kingsley's Ten Million Ghosts. Welles invited Coulouris to become a charter member of his Mercury Theatre, and in 1937 Coulouris performed the role of Mark Antony in the company's debut production, Caesar, an innovative modern-dress production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
"Even 'Friends, Romans, countrymen' sounds on his tongue as if it were a rabble-rousing harangue he is uttering for the first time," noted John Mason Brown in the New York Post.