George Sanders
Biography
George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British film and television actor who also worked as a singer‑songwriter, music composer and author. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, he died in Castelldefels, Spain. His career spanned more than four decades, and his heavy upper‑class English accent and smooth bass voice led to frequent casting as sophisticated villains. Notable screen roles include Jack Favell in Rebecca (1940), Scott ffolliott in Foreign Correspondent (1940), the Saran of Gaza in Samson and Delilah (1949), Addison DeWitt in All About Eve (1950) – for which he received an Academy Award – Sir Brian De Bois‑Guilbert in Ivanhoe (1952) and King Richard the Lionheart in King Richard and the Crusaders.
Career overview
George Henry Sanders was born on 3 July 1906 in Saint Petersburg, then part of the Russian Empire, and died on 25 April 1972 in Castelldefels, Spain. A British actor whose career spanned more than four decades, he was noted for a heavy upper‑class English accent and a smooth bass voice that often led to casting as sophisticated, sometimes villainous, characters.
Sanders appeared in a wide range of films, becoming especially associated with titles such as The Rogues, Mission: Impossible and All About Eve. In 1940 he played Jack Favell in Rebecca and took a rare heroic role as Scott ffolliott in Foreign Correspondent. He portrayed the Saran of Gaza in Samson and Delilah (1949) and earned an Academy Award for his performance as the acerbic critic Addison DeWitt in All About Eve (1950). Subsequent notable parts included Sir Brian De Bois‑Guilbert in Ivanhoe (1952) and King Richard the Lionheart in King Richard and the Crusaders. Throughout his long career Sanders was credited on more than one hundred productions, establishing a legacy as a distinguished character actor of mid‑century cinema.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Footsteps on the Ceiling (2013) as Addison DeWitt (archive footage)
- Ingrid Bergman Remembered (1996) as Self (archive footage)
- Death In Hollywood (1990)
- Disney's Greatest Villains (1977) as Shere Khan (voice) (archive footage)
- Bob Hope's World of Comedy (1976) as Self (archive footage)
- Psychomania (1973) as Shadwell
- Endless Night (1972) as Andrew Lippincott
- Doomwatch (1972) as The Admiral
- The Kremlin Letter (1970) as Warlock
- The Night of the Assassin (1970) as General Downes
- The Girl from Rio (1969) as Sir Masius
- The Best House in London (1969) as Sir Francis Leybourne
- The Candy Man (1969) as Sidney Carter
- The Body Stealers (1969) as Gen. Armstrong
- Laura (1968) as Waldo Lydecker
- One Step to Hell (1968) as Captain Walter Phillips
- The Jungle Book (1967) as Shere Khan the Tiger (voice)
- Warning Shot (1967) as Calvin York
- Good Times (1967) as Mordicus
- Mission: Impossible (1966) as Armand Anderssarian
- Batman (1966) as Mister Freeze
- Batman (1966) as Mister Freeze (uncredited)
- The Quiller Memorandum (1966) as Gibbs
- Trunk to Cairo (1966) as Professor Schlieben
- The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965) as The Banker
- Daniel Boone (1964) as Col. Roger Barr
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) as G. Emory Partridge
- The Rogues (1964) as Leonard Carvel
- A Shot in the Dark (1964) as Benjamin Ballon
- Dark Purpose (1964) as Raymond Fontaine
- The Golden Head (1964) as Basil Palmer
- F.B.I. Operation Baalbeck (1964) as Principe Makowski
- Cairo (1963) as The Major
- The Cracksman (1963) as Guv'nor
- Ecco (1963) as Narrator
- In Search of the Castaways (1962) as Thomas Ayerton
- Operation Snatch (1962) as Maj. Hobson
- The Rebel (1961) as Sir Charles Broward
- Rendezvous (1961) as Kellermann
- Five Golden Hours (1961) as Mr. Bing
- Checkmate (1960) as Richard Gilmore
- Village of the Damned (1960) as Gordon Zellaby
- A Touch of Larceny (1960) as Sir Charles Holland
- The Last Voyage (1960) as Capitaine Robert Adams
- Cone of Silence (1960) as Sir Arnold Hobbes
- Bluebeard's 10 Honeymoons (1960) as Henri Landru
- World by Night (1960)
- Solomon and Sheba (1959) as Adonijah
- That Kind of Woman (1959) as A.L.
- From the Earth to the Moon (1958) as Stuyvesant Nicholl
- The Whole Truth (1958) as Carliss
- The George Sanders Mystery Theater (1957) as Host
- The Seventh Sin (1957) as Tim Waddington
- The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956) as Self
- Death of a Scoundrel (1956) as Clementi Sabourin
- While the City Sleeps (1956) as Mark Loving
- That Certain Feeling (1956) as Larry Larkin
- Never Say Goodbye (1956) as Victor
- The Bitter Waters (1956) as Charles Ferris
- The Dream (1956) as Baron
- The 20th Century Fox Hour (1955) as Waldo Lydecker
- Screen Director's Playhouse (1955) as Charles Ferris
- Jupiter's Darling (1955) as Fabius Maximus
- The King's Thief (1955) as King Charles II
- Moonfleet (1955) as Lord James Ashwood
- The Scarlet Coat (1955) as Dr. Jonathan Odell
- Laura (1955) as Waldo Lydecker
- Studio 57 (1954) as Dr. Grissom
- The Jimmy Durante Show (1954) as Self
- King Richard and the Crusaders (1954) as King Richard I
- The Stranger Came Home (1954) Novel
- Journey to Italy (1954) as Alex Joyce
- Witness to Murder (1954) as Albert Richter
- General Electric Theater (1953) as Dr. Grissom
- General Electric Theater (1953) as William Clark
- General Electric Theater (1953) as Major Watkins
- Call Me Madam (1953) as Cosmo Constantine
- A Brief Encounter with the Rossellini Family (1953) as Self
- Ivanhoe (1952) as Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert
- Assignment: Paris (1952) as Nicholas Strang
- Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1951) as John York
- I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951) as J F Noble
- The Light Touch (1951) as Felix Guignol
- What's My Line? (1950) as Self
- The Bob Hope Show (1950) as Self
- All About Eve (1950) as Addison DeWitt
- Black Jack (1950) as Mike Alexander
- Samson and Delilah (1949) as The Saran of Gaza
- The Fan (1949) as Lord Robert Darlington
- The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) as Self
- The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) as Miles Fairley
- Forever Amber (1947) as King Charles II
- The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947) as Georges Duroy
- Lured (1947) as Robert Fleming
- The Strange Woman (1946) as John Evered
- A Scandal in Paris (1946) as Eugéne François Vidocq
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) as Lord Henry Wotton
- Hangover Square (1945) as Dr. Allan Middleton
- The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945) as Harry Melville Quincey
- Action in Arabia (1944) as Michael Gordon
- The Lodger (1944) as Inspector John Warwick
- Summer Storm (1944) as Fedja Michailovitch Petroff
- This Land Is Mine (1943) as George Lambert
- They Came to Blow Up America (1943) as Carl Steelman / Ernst Reiter
- Appointment in Berlin (1943) as Keith Wilson
- Paris After Dark (1943) as Dr. Andre Marbel
- Quiet Please, Murder (1943) as Jim Fleg
- The Black Swan (1942) as Captain Billy Leech
- Tales of Manhattan (1942) as Williams
- Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942) as Sir Arthur Blake
- The Falcon Takes Over (1942) as Gay Lawrence
- The Falcon's Brother (1942) as Gaylord "Gay" Lawrence
- The Moon and Sixpence (1942) as Charles Strickland
- Her Cardboard Lover (1942) as Tony Barling
- A Date with the Falcon (1942) as Gay Lawrence / The Falcon
- Rage in Heaven (1941) as Ward Andrews
- The Gay Falcon (1941) as Gay Laurence / The Falcon
- Man Hunt (1941) as Major Quive-Smith
- Sundown (1941) as Major A.L. Coombes
- The Saint In Palm Springs (1941) as Simon Templar
- Rebecca (1940) as Jack Favell
- Foreign Correspondent (1940) as Scott ffolliott
- Green Hell (1940) as Forrester
- The House of the Seven Gables (1940) as Jaffrey Pyncheon
- The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) as Gurko Lanen
- Bitter Sweet (1940) as Baron Von Tranisch
- The Saint Takes Over (1940) as Simon Templar
- The Saint's Double Trouble (1940) as Simon Templar
- Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) as Franz Schlager
- Nurse Edith Cavell (1939) as Capt. Heinrichs
- Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939) as Eric Norvel
- Allegheny Uprising (1939) as Captain Swanson
- So This Is London (1939) as Dr. de Reseke
- The Saint Strikes Back (1939) as Simon Templar
- The Saint in London (1939) as Simon Templar
- The Outsider (1939) as Anton Ragatzy
- International Settlement (1938) as Del Forbes
- Four Men and a Prayer (1938) as Wyatt Leigh
- Slave Ship (1937) as Lefty
- Love Is News (1937) as Count Andre de Guyon
- Lancer Spy (1937) as Baron Kurt von Rohback / Lt. Michael Bruce
- The Lady Escapes (1937) as Rene Blanchard
- Things to Come (1936) as Celestial Body (uncredited)
- The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) as Indifference - a God
- Lloyd's of London (1936) as Everett Stacy
- Dishonour Bright (1936) as Lisle
- Love, Life and Laughter (1934) as Singer in Public Bar (uncredited)