George Montgomery

George Montgomery was boxing champion at the University of Montana
where he majored in architecture and interior design. Dropping out a
year later he decided to take up boxing more seriously. He moved to
California where he was coached by ex-heavyweight world champion
James J. Jeffries. While in Hollywood,
he came to the attention of the studios (not least, because he was an
expert rider) and was hired as a stuntman in 1935. After doing this for
four years, George was offered a contract at 20th Century Fox in 1939,
but found himself largely confined to leads in B-westerns. He did not
secure a part in anything even remotely like a prestige picture until
his co-starring role in
Roxie Hart (1942), opposite
Ginger Rogers. Next, in
Orchestra Wives (1942), he played
the perfunctory love interest for
Ann Rutherford -- though both,
inevitably, ended up playing second trombone to
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra.In 1947, George got his first serious break, being cast as
Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip
Marlowe in
The Brasher Doubloon (1947).
Reviewers, however, compared his performance unfavourably with that of
Humphrey Bogart and found the film
'pallid' overall. So it was back to the saddle for George. Unable to
shake his image as a cowboy actor he starred in scores of films with
titles like
Belle Starr's Daughter (1948),
Dakota Lil (1950),
Jack McCall, Desperado (1953)
and
Masterson of Kansas (1954) at
Columbia, and for producer Edward Small at
United Artists. When not cleaning up the Wild West with his
six-shooter he branched out into adventure films set in exotic locales
(notably as Harry Quartermain in
Watusi (1959)). During the 60s, he also
wrote, directed and starred in several long-forgotten, low-budget
wartime potboilers made in the Philippines.At the height of his popularity, George attracted as much publicity for
his acting as for his liaisons with glamorous stars, like Ginger
Rogers, Hedy Lamarr (to whom he was briefly
engaged) and singer Dinah Shore (whom he
married in 1943). After his retirement from the film business, he
devoted himself to his love of painting, furniture-making and sculpting
bronze busts, including one of his close friend
Ronald Reagan.