Early years

Maharis was one of seven children born to Greek immigrants in Astoria, Queens. He studied at the Actors Studio and appeared in Off-Broadway productions of Jean Genet's Deathwatch and Edward Albee's The Zoo Story. He appeared on Studio One, Kraft Television Theater, Goodyear Television Playhouse, Stirling Silliphant's Naked City and Otto Preminger's Exodus, and in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow as Bud Gardner, one of Joanne Gardner's relatives who married Janet Bergman Collins.

He attended Flushing High School and served in the United States Marine Corps for 18 months.

Route 66

In 1960, Maharis appeared as Buz Murdock in the popular TV series Route 66, which co-starred Martin Milner. He received an Emmy nomination in 1962 for his continuing performance as Buz.

Maharis departed without completing his third season on the series, which saw him with health problems, including hepatitis. Maharis said he left Route 66 for health reasons, due to the long hours and grueling conditions he frequently experienced while shooting episodes on location. "I have to protect my future," Maharis said in a 1963 interview. "If I keep going at the present pace, I'm a fool. Even if you have $4,000,000 in the bank, you can't buy another liver." Series producers Stirling Silliphant and Herbert B. Leonard said that Maharis desired to break his contract and make movies. After Maharis' departure, the show's appeal declined. Glenn Corbett stepped in as Milner's new sidekick on the road, Linc Case, but a year later, Route 66 was canceled.

Later career

For Maharis, a string of films followed, including Quick, Before It Melts (1964), The Satan Bug and Sylvia (both 1965), A Covenant With Death and The Happening (both 1967) and The Desperados (1969).

Returning to series television in 1970, Maharis starred as criminologist Jonathan Croft in The Most Deadly Game. The series lasted twelve episodes, ending in January 1971. He modeled for the July 1973 issue of Playgirl magazine as one of the first celebrities to do so.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Maharis guest-starred in many television series, including Mission: Impossible, Fantasy Island, Kojak, McMillan & Wife, Barnaby Jones, Police Story, Switch, Cannon, Night Gallery, and The Bionic Woman, as well as Murder, She Wrote in 1990.

He appeared as Count Machelli, King Cromwell's War Chancellor in The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982). He also starred with the Kenley Players in productions of Barefoot in the Park (1967) and How the Other Half Lives (1973) and in national touring company productions of Company and I Ought to Be in Pictures. In the 1980s, he performed in Las Vegas. In 1993, he performed in Doppelganger.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1953	Marty	Man at Dance Hall	TV; uncredited
1953	The Philco Television Playhouse	Dancer at the Dance Club
1957	Goodyear Television Playhouse
1958	The Mugger	Nicholas Grecco
1959	Brenner
1960	Alcoa Theatre	Johnny Cesare
1959-60	Naked City	Johnny Gary
1960	Exodus	Yaov
1961	Splendor in the Grass		uncredited
1960-61	Search for Tomorrow	Bud Gardner	TV
1960-63	Route 66	Buz Murdock
1963	The Judy Garland Show
1964	Quick, Before It Melts	Peter Santelli
1965	Sylvia	Alan Macklin
1965	The Satan Bug	Lee Barrett
1965	Hullabaloo		TV
1966	A Small Rebellion	Michael Kolinos	TV
1966	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Michael Kolinos
1967	A Covenant with Death	Ben Lewis
1967	The Happening	Taurus
1967	The Danny Thomas Hour	Phil Pearson	TV
1968	Escape to Mindanao	Joe Walden	TV
1968	Journey to the Unknown	Drake
1969	The Desperados	Jacob Galt
1969	Land Raiders	Paul Cardenas
1969	The Monk	Gus Monk	TV
1970	El Último día de la guerra	Sgt. Chips Slater
1970	The Most Deadly Game	Jonathan Croft	TV
1971	Night Gallery	Peter Lacland
1971	Cade's County	Deek Minty
1971	Medical Center	Evan Kenbrook
1972	Cannon	Paul Stubber
1972	The Victim	Ben Chapel	TV
1973	Mission: Impossible	Thomas Bachman
1973	Barnaby Jones	Warren Davis
1974	Movin' On	Harry Armour	TV
1974	Wide World Mystery	Walter
1974	Come Die with Me	Walter Burr
1974	Shaft	Wally Doyle
1974	Marcus Welby, M.D.
1974	The Snoop Sisters	Robert Duware
1974	Thriller	Mark Fields
1974	Death in Space		TV
1974	McMillan & Wife	Walter Webley
1974	Nakia	Joe Arnold	TV; episode "Pete"
1975	Murder on Flight 502	Robert Davenport	TV
1976	Ellery Queen	Dr. Tony Bender
1976	Rich Man, Poor Man	Joey Quales	TV miniseries
1976	Good Heavens	Gary Lawrence
1976	Jigsaw John
1976	Bert D'Angelo/Superstar	Lee Mitchell
1976	Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby	Guy Woodhouse	TV
1976	Gibbsville
1976	The Bionic Woman	Sgt. Bob Welton
1977	SST: Death Flight	Les Phillips	TV
1977	Kojak	Ringer
1973-77	Police Story	Hank Delany
1977	The Feather and Father Gang	Sherwin
1977	Switch	Clouston
1978	Return to Fantasy Island	Benson	TV
1978	Logan's Run	Gavin
1978	Crash	Evan Walsh	TV
1979-82	Fantasy Island	Dr. Hal Workman
1982	The Sword and the Sorcerer	Machelli: Cromwell War Chancellor
1984	Matt Houston	Dr. Charles Brockway
1984	The Master	Garrett
1989	Superboy	Mr. McAlister
1990	Murder, She Wrote	Alex Burton
1993	Doppelganger	Mike Wallace

Art and music

Maharis released LPs and singles through Epic Records earlier in his career. His only Top 40 pop hit was his version of the standard "Teach Me Tonight", which hit #25 in June 1962, although several other singles charted below the Top 40. Later he performed in nightclubs, and pursued a secondary career as an impressionist painter. As of 2008, Maharis was still painting, while splitting his time between New York and Beverly Hills.

Discography

Albums

Original releases

• 1962 - George Maharis Sings! - Epic LN 24001/BN 26001
• 1962 - Portrait in Music - Epic LN 24021/BN 26021
• 1963 - Just Turn Me Loose! - Epic LN 24037/BN 26037
• 1963 - Where Can You Go For a Broken Heart? - Epic LN 24064/BN 26064
• 1964 - Make Love to Me - Epic LN 24079/BN 26079
• 1964 - Tonight You Belong to Me - Epic LN 24111/BN 26111
• 1966 - New Route: George Maharis - Epic LN 24191/BN 26191

CD reissues

• 1995 - George Maharis & John Davidson (Songs from George Maharis Sings!) Sony 28950
• 2000 - George Maharis Sings!/Portrait in Music (2 LPs on 1 CD) Collectibles ASIN B00004TRWR

Singles

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Original releases

• 1962 - "After the Lights Go Down Low" / "Teach Me Tonight" - Epic 5-9504
• 1962 - "They Knew About You" / "Love Me as I Love You" - Epic 5-9522
• 1962 - "I'll Never Smile Again" / "Can't Help Falling In Love" - Epic 5-9545
• 1962 - "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" / "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby" - Epic 3-9548
• 1962 - "Baby Has Gone Bye Bye" / "After One Kiss" - Epic 5-9555
• 1963 - "Don't Fence Me In" / "Alright, Okay, You Win" - Epic 5-9569
• 1963 - "Where Can You Go (For a Broken Heart)" / "Kiss Me" - Epic 5-9600
• 1963 - "That's How It Goes" / "It Isn't There" - Epic 5-9613
• 1963 - "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" / "Sara Darling" - Epic 5-9653
• 1964 - "Tonight You Belong to Me" / "The Object of My Affection" - Epic 5-9696
• 1965 - "I'm Coming Back for You" / "Lonely People Do Foolish Things" - Epic 5-9753
• 1965 - "Where Does Happiness Go" / "More I Cannot Do" - Epic 5-9772
• 1965 - "You Always Hurt the One You Love" / "Quien Sabe? (Who Knows? Who Knows?)" - Epic 5-9844
• 1965 - "A World Without Sunshine" / "Ivy" - Epic 5-9858

Reissues

• "Teach Me Tonight"/"Baby Has Gone Bye Bye" (At least one reissue on Memory Lane)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]