George Gaynes

George Gaynes (born George Jongejans; May 16, 1917) is a Finnish-born^[1] American singer and actor of stage, screen and television.

Gaynes' most recognized role in cinema was arguably that of Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series. To television fans, he is perhaps best known as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster; as high-powered theatrical producer Arthur Feldman on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, in which Gaynes' real-life wife, Allyn Ann McLerie, co-starred as his love interest; and as Frank Smith, the mob boss brought down by Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) on the soap opera General Hospital.

Life and career

Gaynes was born in Helsinki, Finland, the son of Iya Grigorievna De Gay (later known as Lady Iya Abdy), a Russian artist, and Gerrit Jongejans, a Dutch businessman.^[1] His uncle was actor Gregory Gaye.^[1]

A United States citizen for most of his life, Gaynes rapidly built a reputation as a Broadway musical comedy performer in the 1940s and 1950s (his best-known appearance was in Wonderful Town, the musical version of My Sister Eileen). He had a career on the opera stages of Italy and France before World War II and in the US after the war. ^{[citation needed]}

He alternated between stage musicals and both comic and dramatic plays, including his role as Bob Baker in the original production of Wonderful Town (1953), Jupiter in the Cole Porter musical Out of This World, Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and as Henry Higgins in the 1964 US tour of My Fair Lady. In television, Gaynes played the role of Henry Warnimont, the eventual foster father for Punky Brewster in the eponymous series. (He also provided the voice for Henry in the animated Ruby-Spears version of the show.) Behind the camera, he directed several episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati. Films in which he appeared include The Way We Were, Nickelodeon and Tootsie.

In 1984, he played Commandant Lassard, the titular leader, in the first of seven Police Academy movies, and audiences of the 1980s may remember him as Frank Smith, the Mafia boss who was after Luke and Laura on the soap opera General Hospital. In 1994, he played Serybryalzov in Louis Malle's acclaimed independent feature, Vanya on 42nd Street.

Entering films and television in the early 1960s, Gaynes was a regular on the TV daytime dramas Search for Tomorrow and General Hospital, and showed up in such movies as The Group (1966), Marooned (1969) and Doctor's Wives (1971). He also played a role in the sci-fi television series Sliders for one episode, being the aged character of the leading role Quinn Mallory, played by Jerry O'Connell.

Gaynes has been married to Canadian-born American stage and television actress and dancer Allyn Ann McLerie since December 20, 1953; they have two children.^[1] In addition to Gaynes joining the cast of his wife's series The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd in 1989, he and McLerie had previously worked together on Punky Brewster, when she guest starred in a first season episode as a love interest of Henry Warnimont's.

Filmography

Television roles

• Cheers - Malcolm Kramer, episode: "Where There's A Will," 1983.
• Chicago Hope – Brook Austin
• Evita Peron - The Doctor
• General Hospital - Frank Smith
• Hawaii Five-O - Thurman Elliott, "Kiss the Queen Goodbye," 1970.
• Hearts Afire – Senator Strobe Smithers (1992-1993)
• Hogan's Heroes - 3 Star US Army Air Corp General - Episode 159, 1971.
• Matlock - Judge Hollis D. Dunaway - Episode "The Power Brokers" S2E5 & S2E6, 27 October 1987.
• Punky Brewster – Henry Warnimont
• The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd – Arthur Feldman (1989-1991)

References

External links

• George Gaynes at the Internet Movie Database
• George Gaynes at the Internet Broadway Database
• George Gaynes at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection