George Mathews

Who was George Mathews?

George Mathews was an American actor whose career stretched from an uncredited appearance in Stage Door Canteen in 1943 to Going Home in 1971. Burly, heavy-featured, and tall he had an extensive career on stage which began in the early 1930s, when he failed to get a job with the U.S. Mail. He joined the W.P.A. Theatre, and landed a key role in the play Processional as Dynamite Jim.

With his broad face, strong eyebrows, pug nose, and jutting lower lip, Mathews was often cast as heavies or hardened military types. He appeared in both the stage and film version of The Eve of St. Mark, as Sergeant Ruby. He also succeeded in effectively portraying comic thugs, which he did in Pat and Mike, starring Katharine Hepburn, and in the Garson Kanin-directed musical comedy Do Re Mi, as Fatso O'Rear, starring Phil Silvers. He also demonstrated his comedic talent in the short-lived television comedy series Glynis, playing ex-cop Chick Rogers, who assists a mystery writer and amateur sleuth, played by Glynis Johns, in solving "whodunnits", He was also in the Broadway play Catch Me If You Can in 1965.