Other
Characters: Jeremiah Collins 1795
Now
at 33 years of age, wealthy and successful, Burke Devlin
finally seems to be escaping the ghosts of his past. With
his vendetta against the Collins family ended with Roger's
confession of his crime, Burke finds himself liberated from
an all-consuming mission to gain revenge, and perhaps for
this reason seems more peaceful and careworn than in the
recent past. A newfound respect for Elizabeth and a growing
relationship with Victoria Winters conversely finds Burke
newly welcomed into the ranks of the Collinwood household,
with only the spectre of the newly arrived Barnabas Collins
and the growing rivallry he presents left to darken Burke's
horizons...
Anthony
George was born Octavio George on January 29, 1921 in
Endicott, New York. He is sometimes credited as Ott George
or Tony George.
His interest in acting was ignited at an early age while
attending a movie with his grandfather and seeing a child
his age perform. The childhood dream became a reality in
1948 when Anthony moved to California and accepted a contract
from 20th Century Fox. Under Fox, he appeared in the movies
Where the Sidewalk Ends, Under My Skin and Inside
The Walls of Folsom, along with the television show
Those Two.
Sadly, the pace was too fast for Anthony, who suffered a
nervous breakdown during the filming of You Never Can
Tell. After receiving some understanding words from
co-star Dick Powell, Anthony finished the film. Facing a
crisis in confidence, he decided his career in films was
over, and dispondently returned to the East Coast.
Returning to New York seemed to improve Anthony's fortunes,
and he essayed numerous small screen roles on such shows
as Studio One, Tales of Tomorrow and General Electric
Theater. By 1954, feeling comfortable enough to return
to Hollywood for the promise of more television work, where
he faced a new setback in the form a severe hepatitis bout.
He would spend a full year in convalescence.
His health restored, movie star Rosalind Russell helped
regenerate his dormant career by selecting him to star alongside
her on television in her General Electric Theater production
of The Night Goes On. The role prompted many other
guest and recurring roles on episodic primetime television
series including Zorro, Sea Hunt, How to Marry a Millionaire,
Hawaiian Eye, The Untouchables, Checkmate, 77 Sunset Strip,
Wagon Train, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Adventures of
Rin Tin Tin and Broken Arrow.
Anthony's work on the big screen included appearances in
The Ten Commandments, Three Bad Sisters and Gunfight
at Indian Gap.
In the 1960s he returned once again to New York and stage
work, including The Front Page, Endicott And the Red
Cross, Winterset, The Ten O'Clock Scholar, The Voice of
the Turtle, Everything in the Garden, Come Blow Your Horn,
Mating Dance, The Tender Trap, Cactus Flower, The Rainmaker
and Sunday in New York. Anthony also took a Broadway
bow for the role of Nick Arnstein in Funny Girl.
In 1967, while working on the New York stage, Anthony replaced
Mitchell Ryan as Burke Devlin on
Dark Shadows, playing Jeremiah Collins on the show thereafter.
Following
his short stint on the show, he continued to work extensively
in daytime drama, essaying leading roles on Search for
Tomorrow and One Life to Live.
In
the early 1980s, the grief of his mother's death and a long-term
dependency to prescription tranquilisers led to a crisis
in Anthony's health. After counselling and a break from
One Life to Live, he overcame these setbacks and
resumed his work on the show.
In
addition to a voice-over in a Vick's Vapor Rub commercial,
Anthony also made occasional primetime guest appearances,
including credits
on Wonder Woman, Police Woman and Simon and Simon.
During 1980s, Anthony retired from the acting industry and
spent his remaining years in California. He died of complications
from emphysema on March 16 2005. He is survived by his partner
Robert Watson, along with two brothers and a sister.
Biography
written by Vera Marano
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