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Height: 6' 1½" (1,87 m) Marriage: (1) Mary Hayneworth (1951 - 1984, his death) |
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Above right: Mary Hayneworth in 1944 in field attire as Red Cross nurse. | |
Not just a one-note "plug ugly", he was equally as effective at portraying comic toughs. After an uncredited appearance in Stage Door Canteen (1943) where he played a Marine Sergeant with Ray Bolger he was also in Danny Kaye's first picture Up in Arms (1944). Mathews also acted in classical plays. He later played in Candida (1946) with Katharine Cornell and Marlon Brando (in only his third stage production). It opened April 3rd, 1946 at the Cort Theatre in New York City and ran for a limited engagement of only 24 performances before going on the road. Actress Mary Hayneworth joined the Red Cross during the war (England, France, Germany). After her return to the United States in 1946, she joined the Broadway show The Big People. She played the character of a "little person" who was the wife of a "big person" played by George Mathews. They toured it for a few weeks out of town they closed the show before it even reached New York but the romance was on. On radio's The Adventures of Ellery Queen George played Sergeant Velie for two episodes in June 1947. George was supposedly heard two weeks on the episodes "The Green Gorillas" and "The Sky Pirates" before Ed Latimer reclaimed the role. |
In 1950, Mathews played the role of the captain opposite Tyrone Power in a sell-out London production of Mister Roberts at the Coliseum Theatre. Mary Haynsworth and George Mathews were married in 1951 in Greenville, N.C. During the 50s and 60s he kept appearing
on
Broadway. In 1952 he played in the
Spencer Tracy- Katharine Hepburn comedy Pat and Mike.
Perhaps his most memorable role was as Harvey in "The Bensonhurst Bomber"
episode of TV's The
Honeymooners (1956).
Mathews's last role before his retirement was Captain Dan in the 1968 Broadway production of The Great White Hope. In private life, Mathews was the antithesis of the ruffians he often portrayed on screen: amicable and intelligent. Outside of his profession, he was an avid chess player and often participated in international tournaments. He retired from the acting profession in 1971 and in 1974 moved from New York City to Caesar's Head where they settled into the mountain community stretching between Caesar's Head and Brevard, N.C. He died at St. Francis Community Hospital in Greenville, South Caroline of liver failure on November 7. 1984. He was 73 years old. Mary Haynsworth Mathews, 94, died after a brief illness on Friday, May 6, 2011. |
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This actor profile is a part of
Ellery Queen a website on deduction.
The actor above played Velie in a
radio series of The Adventures of
Ellery Queen.
Click Uncle Sam if you think you can help
out...! Many of the profiles on this site have been compiled after very careful research of various sources. Please quote and cite ethically! |
Page first published on Sep 16. 2017 Last updated Feb 21, 2022 |
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