What's my Line? George Sanders

[3636Clarence]

He was married to Zsa Zsa Gabor... Later her sister, Magda but very briefly

[lucycatism]

George Sanders was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, hence his knowledge of the language. He was madly in love with Zsa Zsa Gabor, he later married Zsa Zsa's sister Magda.

I am well aware of his suicide note, but having suffered several strokes and his health deteriorating, I can understand his eloquent last words.

[screenjims11]

Here he seems sad and unhappy to be on the show...maybe embarrassed? He was an excellent actor but filled with personal problems...so sad!

[jerzy862]

0:45

Dude sounds like Elmer Fudd?

[beatrixbelle]

I just realized. The second man on the panel played James Dean's father in Rebel Without A Cause.

[TheVaughan5]

@beatrixbelle Yes, Jim Backus - also a wonderful comedian, played opposite Joan Davis in the NBC t.v. comedy series in the early 50's, "I married Joan"., I understand Davis was extremely popular in those days, now almost completly forgotten

[LouisMenchise]

@TheVaughan5 Those who know say that Joan was WAAAY more talented than Lucy.

[stickstr8up1]

Although it is such a shame that George Sanders took his own life, he did leave the best, most eloquent suicide note in human history: "Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck."

[pyrofella]

Mr Magoo wouldn't need a mask....

[goldie0800]

Aahh! Very nice to see my favorite rascally cad of movieland, George Sanders, a fine actor and intriguing person. Thanks.

[classicsfan10]

Love Jim Backus!

I also love George Sanders (was there anything he couldn't do? Well, other than be happy and normal, but you know what I mean). He was one talented guy.

[NJazzT]

Mr. Thurston Howell III with the correct guess!

[sky0725]

What language is George speaking? If I were to wager a guess I would say Russian b/c he was born there.

[lorrainewands]

He looks quite exhausted and somewhat depressed

[DINOLOVER6717]

His voice is so magnificently deep! OMG! I was so in love with him! So sad he killed himself...

[tallpaul521]

Saw Mr. Sanders the other night in "Death of a Scoundrel"...very beneath his talents. See him in "All About Eve", "Rebecca", or "Foreign Correspondent". He did not commit suicide in Spain.

[BrianMChampion]

Shere Khan! 4:20



[skydome29]

Voice of tiger in the jungle book.

[NotNowMarti]

"Я совсем разучился говорить по-английски" - splendid! xD

[finnpeter]

I was working in Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain in 1972 as a holiday guide when he killed himself in his small cheap hotel room. As far as I know he did it because he was not being offered any more parts to play as times had changed and he was out of style in the 70's plus he was getting old.

[tallpaul521]

@finnpeter BULLSHIT.

[joshstoph]

I especially like him in the film "Rebecca".

[weatherboi]

Mr. McGoo is on the panel.

[MissLizaMay]

One of the best character actors, but with that great voice he seemed to always get cast as the villain. He was married to two of the Gabor sisters (Zsa Zsa and Magda). Interesting guy.

[planetrockford]

He was born in Russia I think so quite clever.

[Cybele1986]

He seems so very shy here. Fabulous actor, though, and yes he was quite sad. He committed suicide at 65 after several strokes and the death of his third wife

[deutschmaerchen]

@Cybele1986

If you have chance chance watch "The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry "from the mid 40's

Greetings

Philipp

[levanyzzuf]

How stupid do you have to be to not know the difference between "Da" and "Nyet"?

[jpsned]

I loved him in all the Hitchcock movies. What a voice.

[Taharah007]

Awesome. George was quite attractive. Love him to death in "The Three Faces of Eve" with Bette Davis (Happened to be Marilyn Monroe's FIRST FILM as a young starlet) His dry humor is most appealing. A very intelligent gentleman...of vintage quality, hard to find ANYWHERE today. Thanks so much for this!

[funkeekatt]

@Taharah007 I believe you mean All About Eve, not The Three Faces of Eve, and it wasn't Marilyn's first film, but it was one of her first.

[Sikandra00]

Thurston Howell III got the answer! :-)

[auntbecky]

He was my favourite Hitchcock villian. Also, for any of you Harry Potter fans out there i think he would have made a wonderful Abraxaxas Malfoy if they had ever brought that character into the story.

[species1859]

What a voice! No one else is comparable. What a fine actor he was'

[LadyTwenties]

Omg, as a Russian and a major Old Hollywood buff and WML addict, this is HEAVEN for me! Love Mr. Sanders! :)

[ptownfreddy]

Nice job, Jim!

[michaeljayklein]

I loved George Sanders...he could do anything! Spoke 8 languages, was a concert pianist, opera singer, writer and of course a fine actor. In this series, I was thinking how hard he, Peter Lorre and James Mason had to work to disguise those wonderful voices they had. You can also hear Sanders sing in"Call Me Madam", which can be found on youtube. Thanks for posting these wonderful segments from a show I remember as a kid.

[taosimplicity]

@michaeljayklein His suiced letter read," Dear world, I am leaving now because I am bored." Strange, and humorous. He was one in a million, what an interesting person. Thanks for posting this.

[WBensburg]

"2 down and 8 to go Miss Kilgallen..."

I'm sorry, Dorothy, but after all these years you should know that MUST mean a "no".

[Leoboy729]

Sanders was an immense talent. It's a shame he got bored with life and offed himself.

[otrsleuth]

I'd like to see that Perry Como Show they make mention of. I'm reading an excellent little book by David Slavitt, called-George Sanders, Zsa Zsa, and Me. Even though he is known for his missive concerning his killing himself, because of boredom. The real reason was he had suffered a stroke, and after-all, what is an actor's instrument, but his person. So, he really was experiencing the mortal coil of age.

[levanyzzuf]

What a bunch of twits. They can't even tell the difference between "da" and "nyet".

[levanyzzuf]

It's awesome to hear he could still speak Russian after all those years.

[Sillach]

Elegant fellow.

[Sillach]

Why did he kill himself? Mystery to me.

[Leoboy729]

Sanders left a suicide note saying he was bored and that was that.

[PhakeSlug]

@Sillach boredom

[emoviebuff87]

such a gentleman!! its a amazing that he only played villians!!

[BlackenedForLife]

He was a very sensitive, naive man who desperately tried to hide his true nature to the characters he played. A great actor and an intelligent invidual. But he lived a great tragedy.

[camilelcoyne]

There is an anecdotal book about Sander's life written by Brian Aherne called "A Dreadful Man". I just finished it and it's wonderful! It includes a lot of their correspondences. Well worth reading if you are a Sanders fan! Now if I could just lay hands on Sanders AUTO-Biography called "Memoirs of A Cad". .. Yes, that's seriously what he named it! Love that Sanders wit!

[lilcoffeebandit]

Such a refined gentleman, I love him <3

[vanquished100]

Memoirs of a professional cad - I don't have the book but have read it. Agree he came across as a sensitive individual.  Made strange marriage decisions - Zsa Zsa Gabor (and her sister) - yeesh!

[operjxm]

Thurston Howell III guessed right!

[skristoferu]

When he was very young , he said he would end his life by suicide. When he was 60+, he committed suicide & wrote a note to the effect that he was bored with life & he bids the world goodbye.

[darkarts59]

Everyone had good handwriting in those days.

[EveryPennyofIt]

Crazy about him. What a sweet face and a gorgeous voice. Glad to see ofthers enjoy him as I do. Tarantino reminds me of him looks-wise.

[tristanchord85]

Ironic that you should mention Tarantino. I dont see any resemblance but Quentin is a fan of George and in his latest movie, Inglourios Basterds, he writes in his screenplay that the character Lt. Archie Hickox is a "young George Sanders type." The actor who plays him MIchael Fassbender does a good job with this.

[amgor2000]

sher khan the tiger

[lucretiuscarus]

Funny, I always thought I was relatively alone in my admiration for Sanders. Nice to see from the other comments that I'm not. Anyone know what year this clip is from?

[ipmoic]

He did commit suicide, and i believe he may have said something to the effect that he was bored.

Perhaps it was a health issue or, just like the curmudgeon he often played in movies, maybe he WAS just bored........

[TheLousyCafe1960]

George Sanders was the last of the screen's "gentleman cads." What an actor! Sadly, I think he committed suicide. His performance as Addison Dewitt in "All About Eve" is nonpareil.

[coralarch]

Yes, 100% correct about Addison De Witt! What a deliciously memorable villain!

[calalilygirl]

These tapes of this show are treasures!

[zamboangaVillain]

@calalilygirl he is the voice of shere kahn in the jungle book

[htuomnom]

It was not Tyrone Power it was David Niven.If he thought it a cesspool then he should see what we have done to it now.

[EveryPennyofIt]

What a rock star. He's in a category unto himself. Shere Kahn!

[HAZIDEAD]

Real English gentleman. Very very distinctive. Had a sadness about him though..

[deutschmaerchen]

@HAZIDEAD

BTW he was born in Russia and died in Spain and had a brother who was an actor,too (Tom Convay)

[kcarter619]

I love him in "Lured" with Lucille Ball and in "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" - sooo handsome!

[martinimerlin]

You must see him in "All About Eve" and "Rebecca". His suicide note said he was bored with life.

[BlackenedForLife]

One of the greatest ever!

[rexthebarker]

George Sanders was born in Russia. I'm not surprised he speaks it so well. Lord, that voice! Not surprised it gave it away (especially to Mr. Magoo himself).

[konzwambii]

What a pleasure to watch Sanders in action. You simply must see Death of a Scoundrel, one of my favorite movies of all time. If you've seen it, time to see it again!

[XMLarry]

He was also the first Mr. Freeze on the Batman TV series (1966)

[dolphinluv2413]

I love George Sanders best as Shere Khan from Jungle Book.

[RedMoonAi]

me too, great voice.

[meanwiddlekid]

One of the great voices of all time. And all class.

I loved him in Ivanhoe as Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert.

"If you covered him with garbage, George Sanders would still have style."---- Ray Davies.

[bigred997]

Why would George use the same voice he did in Call Me Madame playing a Russian diplomat?

[otrsleuth]

Both the brothers Sanders (Tom and his younger sibling George), had wonderful voices. You just don't have pipes like that today. Back in the Golden Age of Media, you had dozens. Others being, Herbert Marshall, Cedric Hardwicke, Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone, to name a few.

[Cybele1986]

@otrsleuth Nurturing fine voices was vital in the old days because of the importance of the theatre (particularly in England) and of radio (everywhere else). The last of the great voices were the likes of Richard Burton and then they disappeared.

[otrsleuth]

Both the brothers Sanders (Tom and his younger sibling, George) had wonderful voices. You just don't have pipes like that today. Back in the Golden Ages of Media, you had dozens. Others being- Herbert Marshall, Cedric Hardwicke and Basil Rathbone.

[wmbrown6]

It was because of Sanders' brother, fellow actor Tom Conway, that a stocky, balding would-be comedian who originally had the same name was forced to change his name to Tim Conway.

[stuntcat666]

I love George Sanders <3

[soulierinvestments]

GSN rebroadcast this on 22 November 2008. It featured Erle Stanley Gardner plugging the premiere as the CBS TV series Perry Mason. Jim Backus is bright and funny; if I were the producers I would have used him more often.

[fyncara]

Thank you so much for posting this! I just saw him in All About Eve and he was wonderful.

[Coptic78]

George Sanders commited Suiside in 1972. He once told Tyrone Power in 1951 that he would do it when he arrives 65. He did:-(

[martinimerlin]

See Sanders in "Foreign Correspondent", "Rebecca" and "All About Eve".

[Muffy2314]

interesting info, but sad.

[thewomaninthemoon]

Oh Goody,I love George Sanders!His voice is so lovely,I swoon every time he speaks.

[Nordenwald]

George Sanders's goofy side finally revealed! Thank you so much for posting this! You're my hero :-)

[soulierinvestments]

George Sanders was born in Saint Petersburg, so that accounts for the Russian.

The combination of Jim Backus and Sanders is somewhat prophetic: both of them did cartoon voices -- Backus at Looney Toons ("A-Lad-in his Lamp" comes to mind) and at Columbia ("Mr. Magoo"). Sanders provided a tiger voice in Disney's "Jungle Book."

Sanders acted in at least a dozen film masterpieces. Thank heaven for DVD, so that youngsters can see what superb talent he had.

Thanx for posting this memorable clip.