George Chakiris

'George Chakiris' (qv) made his film debut at the age of 12 singing in the chorus of _Song of Love (1947)_ (qv). Following his graduation from high school, he supported his night-time dancing, singing and dramatic lessons with a daytime job clerking in a Los Angeles department store. Later he started his acting/dancing career appearing in musicals such as _Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)_ (qv)--he is one of the ballet dancers escorting 'Marilyn Monroe' (qv) in "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend"--_White Christmas (1954)_ (qv), _The Girl Rush (1955)_ (qv), _There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)_ (qv), _Brigadoon (1954)_ (qv), and _Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)_ (qv). In 1957, he made his debut as a dramatic actor in _Under Fire (1957)_ (qv). In 1958 he traveled to New York hoping for a Broadway "break." Hearing that 'Jerome Robbins' (qv) was casting the London company of "West Side Story", he auditioned and was awarded the co-starring role of Riff. He played the part for almost two years on the West End stage before acting, singing and dancing as Bernardo in the 'Robert Wise' (qv) film version (_West Side Story (1961)_ (qv)), a performance that earned him a Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Since then, he starred in a succession of films, including _Diamond Head (1962)_ (qv) with 'Charlton Heston' (qv), _Bebo's Girl (1964)_ (qv) with 'Claudia Cardinale' (qv), _The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)_ (qv) with 'Catherine Deneuve' (qv), 'Françoise Dorléac' (qv) and 'Gene Kelly' (qv), _The Big Cube (1969)_ (qv) with 'Lana Turner' (qv), _Why Not Stay for Breakfast? (1979)_ (qv), _Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982)_ (qv), and _Pale Blood (1990)_ (qv). He is one of the most traveled stars in motion pictures, having been to such locations as Hawaii, Japan, Mexico, Italy, England, Spain, and France. His nightclub career was launched to rave reviews at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and Harrah's Club in Lake Tahoe. In the 1970s and 1980s, his career focused on television and music. He appeared as guest star in several TV series such as _Hawaii Five-O (1968)_ (qv) (Death is a Company Policy - 1972), _Wonder Woman (1975)_ (qv) (Death in Disguise - 1978), _CHiPs (1977)_ (qv) (Fox Trap - 1983), _Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983)_ (qv) (Lost and Found - 1984), _Murder, She Wrote (1984)_ (qv) (Weave a Tangled Web - 1989), and he joined the cast of _Dallas (1978)_ (qv) from 1985 to 1986. He has released several records: "'George Chakiris' (qv)," "Memories Are Made of These," "The Gershwin Song Book," "West Side Story's Dynamic...". Recently, he has appeared in several plays and stage musicals: after "The King and I" in the US in 1995, he performed in Britain the role of Rochester in "Jane Eyre".::K. Wiebe <[email protected]>