| George Nader | |
| Birth Name: | George Garfield Nader, Jr.[1] [2] |
| Birth Date: | October 19, 1921 |
| Birth Place: | Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Woodland Hills, California, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 1950–1974 |
| Partner: | Mark Miller (1947–2002; Nader's death) |
| Relatives: | Michael Nader (nephew) |
George Garfield Nader, Jr. (October 19, 1921 – February 4, 2002) was an American actor and writer of Lebanese descent.[3] He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 to 1974, including Sins of Jezebel (1953), Congo Crossing (1956), and The Female Animal (1958). During this period, he also did episodic television and starred in several series, including NBC's The Man and the Challenge (1959–60). In the 1960s he made several films in Germany, playing FBI agent Jerry Cotton. He is remembered for his first starring role, in the low-budget 3-D sci-fi film Robot Monster (1953), known as "one of the worst films ever made."[4]
Discreetly gay during his acting career, he and his life partner Mark Miller were among Rock Hudson's closest friends. After retiring from acting, he wrote Chrome (1978), a science-fiction novel dealing positively with a same-sex relationship.[5]
Nader was born in Pasadena, California, the son of Alice (née Scott), who was from Kansas, and George Garfield Nader, who was from Illinois.[6] [7] He earned his Bachelor of Arts in theater arts at Occidental College.
During World War II he served in the US Navy as a communications officer in the Pacific theater from 1943 to 1946.
Nader began his acting career in 1950. He appeared in several productions at the Pasadena Playhouse over four years, which led to a number of bit parts in films.[8] He was in Rustlers on Horseback (1950) for Republic Pictures[9] while also appearing on stage in Summer and Smoke at the Pasadena Playhouse.[10]
He had small parts in You're in the Navy Now (1951), The Prowler (1951), Take Care of My Little Girl (1951), (1951), and Two Tickets to Broadway (1951). He had a bigger part in a Tim Holt Western, Overland Telegraph (1951), and a drama, Monsoon (1952). He was going to star in a film called GI Smith, but production was canceled.[11] He had unbilled bit roles in the studio films Phone Call from a Stranger (1951) and Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1952).
Nader's first starring role was in Robot Monster (1953), a 3-D feature film directed by Phil Tucker. Although the film is remembered primarily for its "camp" attributes as "one of the worst films ever made," it was financially successful[12] and led to more prominent roles for Nader in other films. He supported Paulette Goddard in Sins of Jezebel (1953) and had a supporting role in Carnival Story (1954). He was the male love interest for Miss Robin Crusoe (1954) at Fox.
Meanwhile, Nader appeared regularly on TV shows such as Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Letter to Loretta, Cavalcade of America, Lux Video Theatre, and The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse.
He made a number of films for Universal Studios, alongside leading men such as Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, and Jeff Chandler. His first film for Universal was a Western, Four Guns to the Border (1954), wherein he was billed beneath Rory Calhoun and Colleen Miller. He followed it with Six Bridges to Cross (1955), supporting Tony Curtis and Julie Adams in a role that Chandler had refused.
Nader was promoted to lead in The Second Greatest Sex (1955) opposite Jeanne Crain and in Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955) opposite Maureen O'Hara, stepping in for Chandler again. In 1955, he won a Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Newcomer."[5]
He starred opposite Virginia Mayo in Congo Crossing (1956) and was second-billed to Chandler in Universal's expensive war epic Away All Boats (1956).[13] He was Esther Williams's leading man in The Unguarded Moment (1956), which starred a young John Saxon. He had top billing in Four Girls in Town (1957) and Man Afraid (1957). Nader supported Audie Murphy in Joe Butterfly (1957), a military comedy.[14] He had the lead in Appointment with a Shadow (1958) and Flood Tide (1958). He was Hedy Lamarr's love interest in The Female Animal (1958), replacing John Gavin.[15] He had the starring role in Nowhere to Go, a 1958 British crime drama featuring the screen debut of Maggie Smith.
Nader moved into regular television roles in the late 1950s, appearing in several short-lived series, including The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (1959) and The Man and the Challenge (1959–60). In 1961, he appeared in an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Self Defense," with Audrey Totter; the following year, he returned for the "Where Beauty Lies" episode opposite Cloris Leachman. In the 1961–62 season, he appeared as insurance investigator Joe Shannon in the syndicated crime drama Shannon, co-starring with Regis Toomey.[16]
Nader appeared frequently on The Loretta Young Show, a dramatic anthology series on NBC.
He produced and directed Walk by the Sea (1963).[17]
Nader had the title role in a European swashbuckler, The Secret Mark of D'Artagnan (1963). He made Zigzag (1963) and The Great Space Adventure (1964) for Albert Zugsmith; both films were made in the Philippines. He starred in The Human Duplicators (1965) and regularly guest-starred on TV shows.
Nader went to Germany to star as FBI agent Jerry Cotton in the German film Tread Softly (1965). It was a hit and led to a series of films: Manhattan Night of Murder (1965), Tip Not Included (1966), The Trap Snaps Shut at Midnight (1966), Murderers Club of Brooklyn (1967), Death in the Red Jaguar (1968), Death and Diamonds (1968), and Dead Body on Broadway (1969).
He appeared in two Harry Alan Towers productions, The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967) shot in Hong Kong and The House of 1,000 Dolls (1967) filmed in Spain. One of his last films was Beyond Atlantis (1973), made in the Philippines.
In the 1970s, Nader suffered an eye injury in an automobile accident, which made him particularly sensitive to the bright lights of movie sets and forced him to retire from acting. He began writing, including his 1978 science fiction novel Chrome, which dealt with a forbidden romance between a man and an android (also male).[18] [19]
According to Variety's Army Archerd, Nader had completed a book called The Perils of Paul (the title being a play on the melodrama serial The Perils of Pauline) about the gay community in Hollywood, which he did not want published until after his death.[20]
Although Nader was not openly gay during his film career, he generally did not feign relationships with women to conceal it, instead deflecting questions by saying that he had not met "the right one."[6]
Nader lived with his life partner, Mark Miller (November 22, 1926 – June 9, 2015), whom he met in 1947 while they were acting in a play together.[19] [21]
Miller worked as Rock Hudson's personal secretary from 1972 until the star's death, and the couple inherited the interest from Hudson's $27 million estate after his death from AIDS complications in 1985.[5] [20] Hudson biographer Sara Davidson described Nader, Miller, and another person as "Rock's family for most of his adult life."[18] Nader publicly acknowledged his sexual orientation shortly afterward.[20]
Nader and Miller eventually settled in Palm Springs.
Stricken by multiple medical problems, Nader entered the hospital in September 2001. He died on February 4, 2002, in Woodland Hills, California, of cardiopulmonary failure, pneumonia, and multiple cerebral infarctions. He was survived by Miller (with whom he had spent 55 years), his cousins Sally Kubly and Roberta Cavell, and his nephew, actor Michael Nader.[20] His ashes were scattered at sea; a cenotaph in his honor, together with Mark Miller and Rock Hudson, exists in Cathedral City's Forest Lawn Cemetery.[22] In 2002, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[23]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Rustlers on Horseback | Jack Reynolds | Credited as George Nadar | |
| 1950–1953 | Fireside Theater | George Mick Charlie Bob Web Martin | Season 2 Episode 18: "The Golden Ball/Just Three Words" (1950) as George Season 5 Episode 17: "The Lady Wears a Star" (1953) as Mick Season 5 Episode 20: "Boundary Line" (1953) as Charlie Season 6 Episode 6: "Refuge" (1953) as Bob Season 6 Episode 12: "Appointment with Death" (1953) as Web Martin | |
| 1951 | You're in the Navy Now | Crew member | Uncredited | |
| The Prowler | Photographer | Uncredited | ||
| Take Care of My Little Girl | Jack Gruber | Uncredited | ||
| Commando | Uncredited, alternative titles: Rommel, Desert Fox & The Desert Fox | |||
| Two Tickets to Broadway | Charlie, Crosby's Sound Technician | Uncredited | ||
| Overland Telegraph | Paul Manning | |||
| 1952 | Phone Call from a Stranger | Pilot | Uncredited | |
| Gruen Guild Playhouse | TV, 1 episode | |||
| Big Town | Season 2 Episode 38: "Baby Sitter" | |||
| Monsoon | Burton | |||
| Han glömde henne aldrig | Chris Kingsley | English version, Voice | ||
| 1953 | Down Among the Sheltering Palms | Lieutenant Homer Briggs | Uncredited | |
| Your Jeweler's Showcase | Season 1 Episode 18: "Heart's Desire" | |||
| Robot Monster | Roy | Alternative titles: Monster from Mars & Monsters from the Moon | ||
| Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Richard MacLeod | Season 2 Episode 44: "Richard and the Lion" | ||
| Your Play Time | TV, 1 episode | |||
| Sins of Jezebel | Jehu | |||
| Hallmark Hall of Fame | Joseph McCoy | (TV movie) "McCoy of Abilene" | ||
| 1953–1961 | The Loretta Young Show | (1) Keith Warren (2) Arthur Wayne (3) Steve Baxter (4) Newton Ralston (5) Robert Schumann (6) Charles Diebold (7) Barry Kendall (8) Austin Granger | Season 1 Episode 1: "Trial Run" (1953) as (1) Season 1 Episode 2: "The Mirror" (1953) as (2) Season 1 Episode 8: "Kid Stuff" (1953) as (3) Season 1 Episode 15: "Hotel Irritant" (1953) as (4) Season 1 Episode 26: "The Clara Schumann Story" (1954) as (5) Season 1 Episode 31: "The Enchanted Schoolteacher" (1954) as (6) Season 1 Episode 33: "Oh, My Aching Heart" (1954) as (7) Season 8 Episode 20: "The Choice" (1961) as (8) | |
| 1954 | The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse | Bill Ferris | Season 1 Episode 16: "Account Closed" as Bill Ferris Season 1 Episode 22: "His Brother's Girl" | |
| Carnival Story | Bill Vines | |||
| Cavalcade of America | Eliphalet Remington II | Season 2 Episode 30: "Midnight School" Season 3 Episode 3: "The Forge" as Eliphalet Remington II | ||
| Four Guns to the Border | Bronco | Alternative title: Shadow Valley | ||
| Miss Robin Crusoe | Jonathan | |||
| 1954–1957 | Lux Video Theatre | Jeremy Don Dr. Frank Matson | Season 5 Episode 9: "An Angel Went AWOL" (1954) as Jeremy Season 7 Episode 9: "The Glass Web" (1956) as Don Season 7 Episode 22: "One Way Street" (1957) as Dr. Frank Matson | |
| 1955 | Six Bridges to Cross | Edward Gallagher | ||
| The Second Greatest Sex | Matt Davis | |||
| Lady Godiva of Coventry | Lord Leofric | |||
| 1956 | Congo Crossing | David Carr | ||
| Away All Boats | Lieutenant Dave MacDougall | |||
| The Unguarded Moment | Lieutenant Harry Graham | Alternative title: The Gentle Web | ||
| 1957 | Four Girls in Town | Mike Snowden | ||
| Man Afraid | Reverend David Collins | |||
| Joe Butterfly | Sergeant Ed Kennedy | |||
| Climax! | Harry Parker | Season 3 Episode 41: "The Stranger Within" | ||
| Appointment with a Shadow | Paul Baxter | |||
| Flood Tide | Steve Martin | Alternative title: Above All Things | ||
| 1958 | The Female Animal | Chris Farley | ||
| Nowhere to Go | Paul Gregory | |||
| 1959 | The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen | Ellery Queen | TV, 25 episodes | |
| 1959–1960 | The Man and the Challenge | Dr. Glenn Barton | TV, 36 episodes | |
| 1960 | Laramie | Wells Clark | Season 2 Episode 8: ".45 Caliber" | |
| 1961 | The Andy Griffith Show | Dr. Robert Benson | Season 1 Episode 24: "The New Doctor" | |
| Shannon | Joe Shannon | TV, 36 episodes | ||
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Gerald R. Clarke | Season 6 Episode 32: "Self Defense" | ||
| 1962 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Collin Hardy | Season 7 Episode 38: "Where Beauty Lies" | |
| The Secret Mark of D'Artagnan | d'Artagnan | |||
| 1963 | Zigzag | The Hunter | ||
| The Great Space Adventure | ||||
| A Walk by the Sea | ||||
| 1965 | The Human Duplicators | Glenn Martin | Alternative titles: Space Agent K1 & Jaws of the Alien | |
| Burke's Law | Chris Maitland | Season 2 Episode 30: "Who Killed the Jackpot" | ||
| Schüsse aus dem Geigengasten | Jerry Cotton | |||
| Espionage in Lisbon | Drunk entering hotel-room | Uncredited | ||
| Manhattan Night of Murder | Jerry Cotton | |||
| 1966 | The Trap Snaps Shut at Midnight | |||
| Die Rechnung – eiskalt serviert | ||||
| 1967 | Der Mörderclub von Brooklyn | |||
| The Million Eyes of Sumuru | Agent Nick West | |||
| The House of 1,000 Dolls | Stephen Armstrong | |||
| 1968 | Dynamit in grüner Seide | Jerry Cotton | ||
| Steve Weston | ||||
| Tod im Roten Jaguar | Jerry Cotton | |||
| 1969 | Todesschüsse am Broadway | |||
| 1972 | Season 1 Episode 15: "Warlock at Mach 3" | |||
| The F.B.I. | Season 8 Episode 8: "A Game of Chess" | |||
| 1973 | Beyond Atlantis | Nereus | Alternative title: Sea Creatures | |
| 1974 | Nakia | McMasters | TV movie, (final film role) |