George Hamilton Biography

George Hamilton is a veteran actor who is better known for his off-screen persona: a suave, well-dressed escort of beautiful women. He is particularly famous for his eternal golden-brown tan, which over the years has become something of a pop culture inside joke.

George Hamilton got his start as a handsome young dramatic actor; his first feature film role was as the murderous lead in Crime and Punishment USA (1959). His later films have included All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960, with Natalie Wood), Evel (1971, with Hamilton as daredevil Evel Knievel), the horror comedy Love At First Bite (1979, with Hamilton as a love-struck Count Dracula) and Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather, Part III (1990, with Hamilton as the Corleone family’s slick lawyer). George & Alana, a talk show he hosted with his ex-wife, Alana Stewart, had a brief run in syndication in 1995-96. He has also appeared as a guest on TV series ranging from Columbo (1975) to 2 Broke Girls (2016).

Still, Hamilton’s appearances in high society began to outshine his appearances onscreen. In the 1990s, George Hamilton opened a chain of upscale cigar bars and coffee clubs. His toe-tapping appearance as a competitor on Dancing With the Stars 2 in 2006 brought him a fresh round of applause, and in 2009 he appeared on the British series I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! 

Playing off George Hamilton’s “extra-crispy” tan, fast-food purveyor Kentucky Fried Chicken hired him to portray Colonel Sanders in a series of TV ads in 2016 and 2018.