Biography of George Hamilton

George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor. His notable films include Home from the Hill . By Love Possessed , Light in the Piazza , Your Cheatin' Heart , Once Is Not Enough . Love at First Bite , Zorro, The Gay Blade , The Godfather Part III , Doc Hollywood . 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag , Hollywood Ending and The Congressman . For his debut performance in Crime and Punishment U.S.A. , Hamilton won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for a BAFTA Award. He has received one additional BAFTA nomination and two additional Golden Globe nominations. Hamilton began his film career in 1958, and although he has a substantial body of work in film and television, he is perhaps most famous for his debonair style and his perpetual sun tan. Bo Derek wrote in her autobiography that "there was an ongoing contest between John and George Hamilton as to who was tanner." Hamilton was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the middle of three boys with an older maternal half-brother and a younger full brother, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas. He is the eldest son of Ann Stevens and bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton. His stepfathers were Carleton Hunt and Jesse Spalding; his stepmother was June Howard, by whom Hamilton said he was a victim of statutory rape when he was 12 years old which was shortly after she married his father. Hamilton attended the Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York, graduating in 1957. Hamilton's first roles were in TV. He appeared on such shows as The Veil , The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, The Donna Reed Show and Cimarron City. George appeared in the 1951 film "The Well", directed by Leo Popkin and Russell Rouse. Source Imdb. Doing further research will show that this film is not listed among his achievements on other sites. His first film role was a lead, Crime and Punishment U.S.A. , directed by Denis Sanders. Although shot in 1958 it was not released until the following year. However the film was seen by Vincente Minnelli who thought Hamilton would be ideal for the younger son in Home from the Hill , a Southern melodrama with Robert Mitchum. Hamilton was duly cast and the film was popular. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed him to a long-term contract.