George Hamilton

The Tanning Dictatorship

In 1939, George Hamilton was born in Memphis into a family where show business wasn't an option but the very air they breathed. His father was a well-known orchestra conductor and his mother a socialite who understood perfectly how public image worked. Before turning twenty, he already had a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a jawline that seemed carved for Technicolor.

In 1959 he made his film debut in Crime and Punishment U.S.A. and won the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year. But Hamilton had no interest in becoming the next Marlon Brando, nor did he torment himself with Stanislavski's method. He soon realized his greatest asset was impeccable photogenic looks and a tan that defied the seasons.

That eternal playboy image opened doors for him at the best clubs in Los Angeles. During the 1960s he appeared in films such as Where the Boys Are and Goodbye Charlie. He worked with directors of the caliber of Vincente Minnelli, but the press was more interested in his romances with presidents' daughters or with figures from international high society.

The sun never sets on him.

Because Hamilton decided his career would not depend solely on the scripts that reached his office. His skin was always his best publicist, and his perpetual tan became his trademark in an industry that was beginning to value the gritty naturalism of New Hollywood more. He preferred to keep his tuxedo immaculate.

The Vampire Who Saved the Box Office

In 1979, the industry had written him off for leading roles. So he decided to risk his own money to produce Love at First Bite, a parody of Dracula set in late-1970s New York. It was a smart move because it poked fun at his own image as a washed-up womanizer.

And the gamble paid off.

The film grossed more than $40 million at the time on a minimal budget. Hamilton proved he had a sharp instinct for physical comedy and comic timing. In 1981 he repeated the formula with Zorro, The Gay Blade, where he played twin brothers with uneven but profitable comic results.

But the phone from the major studios stopped ringing for serious projects for a long stretch. He turned to television and series such as Dynasty, where his presence fit perfectly with the shoulder pads and champagne excess of the 1980s. He never hid that he took jobs for the money and the lifestyle they came with.

Nobody saw that coming.

The Corleones' Lawyer

In 1990, Francis Ford Coppola called him to join the cast of The Godfather Part III. He had the difficult task of filling the narrative space that Robert Duvall left empty after failing to reach a financial agreement. Hamilton played B.J. Harrison, the family's new financial attorney for the Corleones, with a restraint that surprised even the harshest critics.

That role gave him back some of the acting respect he had lost among gossip magazine covers. However, he chose not to pursue that dramatic path and returned to the comfort of television and his personal business ventures. He launched his own line of skincare products and opened tanning salons bearing his name across the United States.

In 2019 he joined the cast of Grace and Frankie, playing Jack, a character that once again played on his image as a mature leading man. His ability to stay relevant in the industry without making a masterpiece in decades is a case study in marketing schools. Hamilton knows audiences don't look to him for heartbreaking performances, but for the reassurance that old Hollywood is still alive.

In 2022 he appeared as a contestant on The Masked Singer, hidden under a seal costume. Maintaining his public image requires an annual budget in the six figures for travel, wardrobe and specialized skincare treatments.