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{{Short description|British actor and singer (1906–1972)}}
{{Other people|George Sanders}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = George Sanders
| image              = File:George Sanders Hangover Square Still (cropped).jpg
| caption            = still from ''[[Hangover Square (film)|Hangover Square]]''
|
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=yes|1906|7|3}}
| birth_place        = {{nowrap|[[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russian Empire]]}}
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1972|4|25|1906|7|3}}
| death_place        = [[Castelldefels]], [[Barcelona, Spain]]
| alma_mater         = [[University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology|Manchester Technical College]]
| awards             = [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|Actor|singer}}
| years_active       = 1929–1972
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Susan Larson|1940|1949|reason=divorce}}
* {{marriage|[[Zsa Zsa Gabor]]|1949|1954|reason=divorce}}
* {{marriage|[[Benita Hume]]|1959|1967|reason=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Magda Gabor]]|1970|1971|reason=annulled}}
}}
| relatives          = [[Tom Conway]] (brother)
| partner            = Lorraine Chanel (1968–1972)
}}

'''George Henry Sanders''' (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous characters. He is remembered for his roles as the wicked Jack Favell in ''[[Rebecca (1940 film)|Rebecca]]'' (1940), Scott Folliott in ''[[Foreign Correspondent (film)|Foreign Correspondent]]'' (1940, a rare heroic part), The Saran of Gaza in [[Samson and Delilah (1949 film)|''Samson and Delilah'']] (1949, the most popular film of the year), [[Critic|theater critic]] Addison DeWitt in ''[[All About Eve]]'' (1950, for which he won the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]]), Sir Brian De Bois-Guilbert in ''[[Ivanhoe (1952 film)|Ivanhoe]]'' (1952), [[Richard I of England|King Richard the Lionheart]] in ''[[King Richard and the Crusaders]]'' (1954), [[Mr. Freeze]] in a two-part episode of ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' (1966), and the voice of [[Shere Khan]] in Disney's ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'' (1967). He also starred as [[Simon Templar]], in five of the eight films in ''[[The Saint (film series)|The Saint]]'' series (1939–1941),<ref>''The Guardian'' (London), 26 April 1972, p.5.</ref> and as a suave ''Saint''-like crimefighter in the first four of the sixteen [[The Falcon (fictional detective)|The Falcon]] films (1941–1942).

==Early life==
Sanders was born on 3 July 1906 in [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russian Empire]], at number 6 Petrovski Ostrov, to rope manufacturer Henry Sanders and horticulturist Margaret ({{nee}} Kolbe),<ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-47189|isbn = 978-0-19-861412-8|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/47189|title = The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year = 2004}}</ref> who was also born in Saint Petersburg, of mostly German, but also Estonian and Scottish ancestry. (Sanders wrote of his mother's descent from "the Thomas Clayhills of [[Dundee]], who went to Estonia in 1626 to establish a business there".) Sanders referred to his parents as "well-off" and noted his mother's "forebears of solid social position and impeccable respectability", stating that "to the best of (his) knowledge, (his) father came in the mail".<ref>{{cite book |author=Sanders, George|title=Memoirs of a Professional Cad|year=1960|publisher=Hamish Hamilton|page=8}}</ref>

A biography published in 1990 alleged that family members' "recent disclosures... indicate" that Sanders' father was the out-of-wedlock son of a Russian noblewoman of the Tsar's court, and a prince of the [[House of Oldenburg]] who was married to a sister of the Tsar.<ref>Although Nicholas II's sister Olga Alexandrovna married Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, he was born in 1868, and therefore could not have been the father of Henry Sanders, born circa 1870- https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-47189?rskey=kfCHPc&result=4</ref> At the time of Henry Sanders' birth, the Anglo-Russian Sanders family were living at Saint Petersburg; the mother, Dagmar, was a lady-in-waiting to the Dowager Empress, and it was said to be through this connection Henry came to be adopted by the Sanders family.<ref>{{cite book |author=VanDerBeets, Richard |title=George Sanders: An Exhausted Life|year=1990|publisher=Madison Books|isbn=978-0819178060}}</ref>

In 1917, at the outbreak of the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Russian Revolution]], Sanders and his family moved to Great Britain.<ref>Sanders 1960, pp. 9–10, 13.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131494859 |title=George Sanders |newspaper=[[The World's News]] |issue=2004 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=4 May 1940 |access-date=1 September 2017 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Like his brother, he attended [[Bedales School]] and [[Brighton College]], a boys' independent school in [[Brighton]], then went on to [[University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology|Manchester Technical College]], after which he worked in textile research.<ref>Sanders 1960, p. 17.</ref><ref name="new"/>

Sanders travelled to South America, where he managed a tobacco plantation. The Depression sent him back to Britain.  He worked at an advertising agency, where the company secretary, aspiring actress [[Greer Garson]], suggested that he take up a career in acting.<ref>Sanders 1960, p. 54.</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Foreign Correspondent trailer 12 Sanders crop.jpg|thumb|In the trailer for [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Foreign Correspondent (film)|Foreign Correspondent]]'' (1940)]]

===Early British work===
Sanders learned how to sing and got a role on stage in ''Ballyhoo'', which had only a short run, but helped establish him as an actor.<ref name="new"/>

He began to work regularly on the British stage, appearing several times with [[Edna Best]]. He co-starred with [[Dennis King (actor)|Dennis King]] in ''The Command Performance''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68346240 |title=George Sanders |newspaper=[[The Advocate (Tasmania)]] |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=25 July 1941 |access-date=1 September 2017 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Sanders travelled to New York to appear on Broadway in a production of [[Noël Coward]]'s ''[[Conversation Piece (musical)|Conversation Piece]]'' (1934), directed by Coward, which ran for only 55 performances.<ref name="new"/>

===Hollywood and 20th Century-Fox===
[[20th Century-Fox]] was looking for an actor to play a villain in its Hollywood-made film ''[[Lloyd's of London (film)|Lloyd's of London]]'' (1936). Sanders was duly cast as Lord Everett Stacy, opposite [[Tyrone Power]], in one of his first leads, as the hero; Sanders' smooth, upper-class English accent, his sleek manner, and his suave, superior, and somewhat threatening air made him in demand for American films for years to come.<ref>Sanders 1960, p.117</ref> ''Lloyd's of London'' was a big hit, and in November 1936, Fox placed Sanders under a seven-year contract.<ref>MISSES LOMBARD AND RUSSELL DEBATED FOR "IDIOT'S DELIGHT" Schallert, Edwin. ''Los Angeles Times'' 2 December 1936: 8.</ref>

===Character roles===
Sanders returned to Hollywood, where [[RKO]] wanted him to play the hero in a series of B-movies, ''[[Simon Templar|The Saint]]''. ''[[The Saint in New York (film)|The Saint in New York]]'' (1938) had already been made starring [[Louis Hayward]] in the title role, but when he decided not to return to the role, Sanders took over for ''[[The Saint Strikes Back]]'' (1939).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55912665 |title="Saint" George Sanders |newspaper=[[The Mail (Adelaide)]] |volume=27 |issue=1,397 |location=South Australia |date=4 March 1939 |access-date=1 September 2017 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>"George Sanders to Play 'Saint' Role", by Edwin Schallert, ''Los Angeles Times'' 15 November 1938, p.A15.</ref> In 1940, Sanders played Jack Favell in [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Rebecca (1940 film)|Rebecca]]'', opposite [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Joan Fontaine]].

===A-picture leading man===
[[File:Forever-Amber-1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|(L-R): George Sanders, [[Linda Darnell]] and [[Richard Haydn]] in ''[[Forever Amber (film)|Forever Amber]]'' (1947)]]
Sanders was borrowed by [[United Artists]] to play the lead in ''[[The Moon and Sixpence (film)|The Moon and Sixpence]]'' (1942), based on the novel by [[W. Somerset Maugham]].<ref>"George Sanders to Be Seen in Strickland Role in Maugham's 'Moon and Sixpence'", ''The New York Times'',  21 February 1942, p.15.</ref>

RKO had canceled its ''Saint'' series and replaced it with ''[[The Falcon (fictional detective)|The Falcon]]'' in 1941. George Sanders was assigned the leading role of Gay Laurence, debonair man about town always involved in murder cases. ''Saint'' author [[Leslie Charteris]] thought the resemblance between the Falcon and the Saint was obvious, and sued the studio for unfair competition. Sanders himself was also unhappy about playing still another screen sleuth in still more "B" pictures, and bowed out of the series in 1942 after only four films. (He was replaced by his elder brother, [[Tom Conway]].)

In July 1942, Fox suspended Sanders for refusing the lead in ''[[The Undying Monster]]'' (1942). "I like to be seen in pictures that at least seem to be slightly worthwhile."<ref name="new">George Sanders, or From Singer to Saint", by Theodore Strauss", ''The New York Times'', 27 September 1942, p.X3.</ref> In September, he was again suspended for refusing an "unsympathetic role" in ''The Immortal Sergeant'' (he was replaced by Morton Lowry).<ref>"George Sanders Suspended by Fox for Withdrawing From 'The Immortal Sargeant'", ''The New York Times'', 11 September 1942, p. 24.</ref> In November 1942, Fox and Sanders came to terms, with the studio offering him a raise in pay and the lead in a film, ''School for Saboteurs'', which became ''[[They Came to Blow Up America]]''.<ref>"Fox Ends Differences With Sanders, Giving Him a Leading Part in 'School for Saboteurs'", ''The New York Times'', November 18, 1942, p.31.</ref>

RKO called him back for ''[[This Land Is Mine (film)|This Land Is Mine]]'' (1943). They bought an original story for him, ''Nine Lives'', but the film  was never made.<ref>"RKO Will Star George Sanders in 'Nine Lives'", ''The New York Times'', July 15, 1943, p.25</ref> He was lent to [[Columbia Pictures]] for ''[[Appointment in Berlin]]'' (1943).<ref>"George Sanders Gets Lead Role in 'Appointment in Berlin'", ''The New York Times'', February 6, 1943, p.8.</ref>

In February 1943, Fox announced it was developing three film projects for Sanders – ''The Porcelain Lady'', a murder mystery, plus biopics of [[Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk|Charles Howard]], 20th [[Earl of Suffolk]] and a hero of World War II, and Canadian physician [[Norman Bethune]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=TimesMachine: Tuesday February 23, 1943 - NYTimes.com |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1943/02/23/issue.html |access-date=2024-01-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Fox originally announced that he would play the detective in ''[[Laura (1944 film)|Laura]]'' (1944) alongside Laird Cregar, but neither ended up being in the final film.<ref>"Screen News Here and in Hollywood", ''The New York Times'', June 11, 1943, p.23.</ref> In 1947, Sanders portrayed [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] in Fox's lavish production of the scandalous historical bodice-ripper, ''[[Forever Amber (film)|Forever Amber]]''.

Sanders signed a new three-film contract with RKO, starting with ''[[Action in Arabia]]'' (1944).<ref>"Star Profit by His Reputation for 'Cussedness'", by Louella Parsons, ''The Washington Post'', August 25, 1943, p.16</ref> Superficially, the film looked expensive but it was actually a low-budget feature, embellished by spectacular location footage filmed in 1933 for an unfinished production about [[Lawrence of Arabia]].

===''All About Eve'' and beyond===
[[File:George Sanders in All About Eve trailer.jpg|thumb|As Addison DeWitt in the trailer for ''[[All About Eve]]'' (1950)]]
For his role as the acerbic, cold-blooded theatre critic Addison DeWitt in ''[[All About Eve]]'' (1950), Sanders won an [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]].<ref>McNally 2008, p. 33.</ref>

Sanders was leading man in ''[[Black Jack (1950 film)|Black Jack]]'' (1950), but was back to supporting-villain roles in ''[[I Can Get It for You Wholesale (film)|I Can Get It for You Wholesale]]'' (1951). He signed a three-picture deal with [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] where he appeared in ''[[The Light Touch]]'' (1951) and ''[[Ivanhoe (1952 film)|Ivanhoe]]'' (1952), playing Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, dying in a duel with [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]] after professing his love for Jewish maiden Rebecca, played by [[Elizabeth Taylor]]. It was a huge success.<ref>"George Sanders Slated in Trio of MGM Films", ''Los Angeles Times'', May 27, 1951, p.IV-9</ref>

Sanders went to Italy to appear opposite [[Ingrid Bergman]] in ''[[Journey to Italy]]'' (1954). Back in Hollywood, he made several films for MGM: ''[[Jupiter's Darling]]'' (1955), ''[[Moonfleet (film)|Moonfleet]]'' (1955), ''[[The Scarlet Coat]]'' (1955), and ''[[The King's Thief]]'' (1955) (again as Charles II).<ref>MGM Reports Schedule of 27 Feature Movies Los Angeles Times 4 Aug 1954: 18.</ref>

In 1955, Sanders was announced as hosting and occasionally appearing in ''The Ringmaster'', a TV series about the circus.<ref>GEORGE SANDERS TO BE VIDEO HOST: Cast as Narrator of Filmed Series, 'The Ringmaster.' Built on Circus Stories New York Times 1 Sep 1955: 46.</ref>

Sanders played the lead in ''[[Death of a Scoundrel]]'' (1956) and the TV series ''[[The George Sanders Mystery Theater]]'' (1957).<ref>Drama: MGM and Japan Daiei in Deal for Star, Studio: Zsa Zsa May Face 'Ex' Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 25 Nov 1955: B7.</ref>

He worked one last time with Power on ''[[Solomon and Sheba]]'' (1959); Power died suddenly during filming and was replaced by Yul Brynner.<ref>RKO Has New Lease on Life: Teleradio Financing Indies; Newsiest Newsmen Recalled Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 11 Apr 1958: 21.</ref>

In 1960, Sanders ventured into the realm of science fiction/horror, starring in ''[[Village of the Damned (1960 film)|Village of the Damned]]'' as a professor who is determined to teach an unusual group of white-haired, glowing-eyed children how to be human. The movie was groundbreaking in its use of split- and composite-screen special effects which appeared to show the children's eyes glowing in real time as they used their powers to manipulate the citizens of the village and wreak destruction.

[[File:Daniel boone television parker 1966.JPG|thumb|200px|Sanders as guest star on [[NBC]] series ''[[Daniel Boone (1964 TV series)|Daniel Boone]]'', with [[Fess Parker]] (1966)]]In 1961, he appeared in ''[[The Rebel (1961 film)|The Rebel]]'' with Tony Hancock before being top-billed in ''[[Cairo (1963 film)|Cairo]]'' (1963), then appeared in ''[[The Cracksman]]'' (1963), ''[[Dark Purpose]]'' (1964), and ''[[The Golden Head]]'' (1964). [[Peter Sellers]] and Sanders appeared together in  [[The Pink Panther (1963 film)|''The Pink Panther'']] sequel ''[[A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)|A Shot in the Dark]]'' (1964). Sanders had earlier inspired Sellers's character [[Hercules Grytpype-Thynne]] in the [[BBC]] radio comedy series ''[[The Goon Show]]'' (1951–60).<ref name=Goon>{{cite book |author=Wilmut, Roger and Jimmy Grafton |title=The Goon Show Companion: A History and Goonography|year=1976 |publisher=Robson Books Ltd. |isbn=978-0903895644 | page=90}}</ref>

In 1966, Sanders declared bankruptcy due to some poor investments.<ref>George Sanders The Guardian 26 Apr 1972: 5</ref>

Sanders was cast in the musical comedy, ''Sherry!'', but withdrew from the show while it was out-of-town.  He was replaced by [[Clive Revill]] for Broadway.<ref>Stubblebine, Donald J., Broadway Sheet Music, McFarland & Company, 1996, p. 252 (#2065)</ref>

===Final films===
Sanders appeared briefly in the espionage thriller ''The Quiller Memorandum'' (1966), and in the crime-thriller ''[[Warning Shot (1967 film)|Warning Shot]]'' (1967). He followed those up by voicing the [[bengal tiger]] [[Shere Khan#The Jungle Book|Shere Khan]] in [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney's]] animated hit film ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'' (1967). He was featured in a quadruple role in the [[Sonny & Cher]] vehicle ''[[Good Times (film)|Good Times]]'' (1967), [[William Friedkin]]'s [[List of directorial debuts|debut film]]; followed by an eclectic variety of low-budget films, such as ''[[The Candy Man (film)|The Candy Man]]'' (1969) and the campy ''[[The Girl from Rio (1969 film)|The Girl from Rio]]'' (1969).

In 1969, Sanders announced his retirement from acting.<ref>George Sanders's Sneer Mellows Flynn, Betty. Los Angeles Times 6 Sep 1969: a6</ref> He had a major supporting role in [[John Huston]]'s ''[[The Kremlin Letter]]'' (1970), in which his first scene showed him [[Cross-dressing|dressed in drag]] and playing the piano in a gay bar in San Francisco. He also obtained supporting roles in ''[[Doomwatch (film)|Doomwatch]]'' (1972) and ''[[Endless Night (1972 film)|Endless Night]]'' (1972), the latter being an adaptation of [[Agatha Christie]]'s [[Endless Night (novel)|novel of the same name]]. He received top billing for his final film, ''[[Psychomania]]'' (1973), released [[Posthumous publication|posthumously]].

===Novels===
Two ghostwritten crime novels were published under his name to cash in on his fame at the height of his wartime film series.  The first was ''Crime on My Hands'' (1944), written in the first person, and mentioning his Saint and Falcon films.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17929119 |title=Hollywood Authors |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |issue=33,361 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=25 November 1944 |access-date=1 September 2017 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

===Singing and Piano Playing===
[[File:George Sanders in The Picture of Dorian Gray trailer.jpg|thumb|As Lord Henry Wotton in the trailer for [[The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film)|''The Picture of Dorian Gray'']] (1945)]]
During the production of ''The Jungle Book'', Sanders was unavailable to provide the singing voice for his character Shere Khan during the final recording of the song, "[[That's What Friends Are For (The Vulture Song)|That's What Friends Are For]]". According to [[Richard M. Sherman|Richard Sherman]], [[Bill Lee (singer)|Bill Lee]], a member of [[The Mellomen]], was called in to substitute for Sanders.<ref name=commsherman>[[Richard M. Sherman|Sherman, Richard]]. ''The Jungle Book'' [[audio commentary]], Platinum Edition, Disc 1. 2007.</ref>

Sanders was an accomplished pianist who maintained his technique for many years. In 1959, while filming [[The Last Voyage]], [[Life (magazine)|LIFE]] magazine observed him on the set "playing Chopin etudes" during breaks in filming.<ref>Campbell, Alexander. "The Farcical Finish of a Famous Old Ship." LIFE 47:10 (7 September 1959), 94.</ref>

==Personal life==
On 27 October 1940, Sanders married Susan Larson (born Elsie Poole). The couple divorced in 1949. From later that year until 1954, Sanders was married to [[Zsa Zsa Gabor]], with whom he starred in the film ''[[Death of a Scoundrel]]'' (1956). On 10 February 1959, Sanders married [[Benita Hume]], widow of [[Ronald Colman]]. She died of bone cancer in 1967, aged 60, the same year that Sanders's brother Tom Conway died of liver failure. Sanders had become distant from his brother because of Conway's drinking problem.<ref>Sanders 1960, pp. 106, 110.</ref>

In 1942, the [[Hollywood Women's Press Club]] named Sanders that year's winner of the ''Sour Apple Award'', which is given nearly annually to entertainers who have exhibited rude or difficult behavior on set.

Sanders' autobiography ''[[Memoirs of a Professional Cad]]'' was published in 1960 and gained critical praise for its wit. Sanders suggested the title ''A Dreadful Man'' for his biography, later written by his friend [[Brian Aherne]] and published in 1979.<ref>VanDerBeets 1990, p. xiii.</ref> Sanders' fourth and final marriage on 4 December 1970 was to [[Magda Gabor]], the elder sister of his second wife. This marriage lasted 32 days ending in an annulment.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dyke |first=Michelle Broder Van |date=2016-12-19 |title=A Look Back At Zsa Zsa Gabor's Nine Marriages |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mbvd/a-look-back-at-zsa-zsa-gabors-nine-marriages |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=BuzzFeed News |language=en}}</ref><ref>VanDerBeets 1990, pp. 116, 119.</ref><ref>"George Sanders Dies in Spain of Drug Overdose, Leaves Note", ''Los Angeles Times'', 25 Apr 1972: 2.</ref>

==Final years and death==
[[File:George sanders black swan 2.jpg|thumb|left|Sanders as Captain Billy Leech in [[The Black Swan (film)|''The Black Swan'']] (1942)]]
By the late 1960s, Sanders had become increasingly reclusive and suffered from depression due to a string of personal tragedies, including the deaths of his third wife, his mother and his brother Tom, all within the span of a year. This was followed by a failed investment, which cost him millions of dollars. According to Aherne's biography, he also had a minor stroke. Sanders could not bear the prospect of losing his health or needing help to carry out everyday tasks, and became severely depressed. After discovering that he could no longer play his grand piano, he dragged it outside and smashed it with an axe. His last girlfriend, Lorraine Chanel, with whom he had an on-off relationship in the last four years of his life, persuaded him to sell his beloved house in Majorca, Spain, which he later bitterly regretted. From then on, he drifted.<ref>Aherne 1979, pp. 183, 190.</ref>

On 23 April 1972, Sanders checked into a hotel in [[Castelldefels]], a coastal town near Barcelona, where he phoned his friend [[George Mikell]]. Two days after swallowing the contents of five bottles of the barbiturate [[Pentobarbital|Nembutal]], he died from cardiac arrest.<ref>Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca. [https://ew.com/article/1992/05/08/george-sanders-suicide/ "Bored to Death."]  ''[[Entertainment Weekly]],'' 8 May 1992. Retrieved: 30 April 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.freewebs.com/georgesanders/ "George Sanders (July 3, 1906 – April 25, 1972)."] ''George Sanders: Official Site.'' Retrieved: 8 December 2011. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522193139/http://www.freewebs.com/georgesanders/ |date=22 May 2009 }}</ref> He left behind two suicide notes, one of which read:

{{blockquote|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgesand162019.html|title=George Sanders Quotes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://classicmoviechat.com/george-sanders-bored-to-death/|title=GEORGE SANDERS — Bored to Death? – ClassicMovieChat.com – The Golden Era of Hollywood|access-date=26 February 2016|archive-date=24 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224121715/http://classicmoviechat.com/george-sanders-bored-to-death/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/dying3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020205095306/http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/dying3.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=5 February 2002|title=famous suicide notes – dying words of famous people}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article102212754 |title=George Sanders dead |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=46 |issue=13,109 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=27 April 1972 |access-date=1 September 2017 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>}}

[[David Niven]] wrote in ''[[Bring on the Empty Horses]]'' (1975), the second volume of his memoirs, that in 1937, his friend George Sanders had predicted that he would commit suicide from a [[barbiturate overdose]] when he was 65, and that in his 50s, he had appeared to be depressed because his marriages had failed and several tragedies had befallen him.<ref name=BOTEH>{{cite book |author= Niven, David |title=Bring on the Empty Horses|year=1975 |publisher=Coronet Books/Hodder and Stoughton |isbn=978-0340209158 | page=304}}</ref>

Sanders has two stars on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], for films at 1636 Vine Street and television at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard.<ref>{{cite web |title=George Sanders |url=https://walkoffame.com/george-sanders/ |website=Hollywood Walk of Fame |date=25 October 2019 |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626204826/https://walkoffame.com/george-sanders/ |archive-date=26 June 2021}}</ref>

==Complete filmography==
{{Div col}}
* ''[[Love, Life and Laughter (1934 film)|Love, Life and Laughter]]'' (1934) as Singer in Public Bar (uncredited)
* ''[[Things to Come]]'' (1936) as Pilot (uncredited)
* ''[[Strange Cargo (1936 film)|Strange Cargo]]'' (1936) as Roddy Burch
* ''[[Find the Lady (1936 film)|Find the Lady]]'' (1936) as Curly Randall
* ''[[The Man Who Could Work Miracles]]'' (1936) as Indifference
* ''[[Dishonour Bright]]'' (1936) as Lisle
* ''[[Lloyd's of London (film)|Lloyd's of London]]'' (1936) as Lord Everett Stacy
* ''[[Love Is News]]'' (1937) as Count Andre de Guyon
* ''[[Slave Ship (1937 film)|Slave Ship]]'' (1937) as Lefty
* ''[[The Lady Escapes]]'' (1937) as Rene Blanchard
* ''[[Lancer Spy]]'' (1937) as Baron Kurt von Rohback / Lt. Michael Bruce
* ''[[International Settlement (film)|International Settlement]]'' (1938) as Del Forbes
* ''[[Four Men and a Prayer]]'' (1938) as Wyatt Leigh
* ''[[Mr. Moto's Last Warning]]'' (1939) as Eric Norvel
* ''[[The Outsider (1939 film)|The Outsider]]'' (1939) as Anton Ragatzy
* ''[[So This Is London (1939 film)|So This Is London]]'' (1939) as Dr. de Reseke
* ''[[The Saint Strikes Back]]'' (1939) as [[The Saint (Simon Templar)|Simon Templar / The Saint]]
* ''[[Confessions of a Nazi Spy]]'' (1939) as Schlager
* ''[[The Saint in London]]'' (1939) as Simon Templar / The Saint
* ''[[Nurse Edith Cavell]]'' (1939) as Capt. Heinrichs
* ''[[Allegheny Uprising]]'' (1939) as Capt. Swanson
* ''[[The Saint's Double Trouble]]'' (1940) as Simon Templar aka The Saint / 'Boss' Duke Bates
* ''[[Green Hell (film)|Green Hell]]'' (1940) as Forrester
* ''[[The House of the Seven Gables (film)|The House of the Seven Gables]]'' (1940) as Jaffrey Pyncheon
* ''[[Rebecca (1940 film)|Rebecca]]'' (1940) as Jack Favell
* ''[[The Saint Takes Over]]'' (1940) as Simon Templar / The Saint
* ''[[Foreign Correspondent (film)|Foreign Correspondent]]'' (1940) as Scott ffolliott
* ''[[Bitter Sweet (1940 film)|Bitter Sweet]]'' (1940) as Baron von Tranisch
* ''[[The Son of Monte Cristo]]'' (1940) as Gen. Gurko Lanen
* ''[[The Saint in Palm Springs]]'' (1941) as Simon Templar / The Saint
* ''[[Rage in Heaven]]'' (1941) as Ward Andrews
* ''[[Man Hunt (1941 film)|Man Hunt]]'' (1941) as Major Quive-Smith
* ''[[Sundown (1941 film)|Sundown]]'' (1941) as Coombes
* ''[[The Gay Falcon]]'' (1941) as [[The Falcon (character)|Gay Laurence / The Falcon]]
* ''[[A Date with the Falcon]]'' (1942) as Gay Laurence / The Falcon
* ''[[Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake]]'' (1942) as Sir Arthur Blake
* ''[[The Falcon Takes Over]]'' (1942) as Gay Lawrence / The Falcon
* ''[[Her Cardboard Lover]]'' (1942) as Tony Barling
* ''[[Tales of Manhattan]]'' (1942) as Williams
* ''[[The Falcon's Brother]]'' (1942) as Gay Lawrence / The Falcon
* ''[[The Moon and Sixpence (film)|The Moon and Sixpence]]'' (1942) as Charles Strickland
* ''[[The Black Swan (film)|The Black Swan]]'' (1942) as Capt. Billy Leech
* ''[[Quiet Please, Murder]]'' (1942) as Jim Fleg
* ''[[This Land Is Mine (film)|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 Wing Cmdr. Keith Wilson
* ''[[Paris After Dark]]'' (1943) as Dr. Andre Marbel
* ''[[The Lodger (1944 film)|The Lodger]]'' (1944) as Inspector John Warwick
* ''[[Action in Arabia]]'' (1944) as Michael Gordon
* ''[[Summer Storm (1944 film)|Summer Storm]]'' (1944) as Fedor Mikhailovich Petroff
* ''[[Hangover Square (film)|Hangover Square]]'' (1945) as Dr. Allan Middleton
* ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film)|The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'' (1945) as Lord Henry Wotton
* ''[[The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry]]'' (1945) as Harry Melville Quincey
* ''[[A Scandal in Paris]]'' (1946) as [[Eugène François Vidocq]]
* ''[[The Strange Woman]]'' (1946) as John Evered
* ''[[The Private Affairs of Bel Ami]]'' (1947) as Georges Duroy
* ''[[The Ghost and Mrs. Muir]]'' (1947) as Miles Fairley
* ''[[Lured]]'' (1947) as Robert Fleming
* ''[[Forever Amber (film)|Forever Amber]]'' (1947) as [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]]
* ''[[The Fan (1949 film)|The Fan]]'' (1949) as Lord Robert Darlington
* ''[[Samson and Delilah (1949 film)|Samson and Delilah]]'' (1949) as The Saran of Gaza
* ''[[All About Eve]]'' (1950) as Addison DeWitt
* ''[[Black Jack (1950 film)|Black Jack]]'' (1950) as Mike Alexander
* ''[[I Can Get It for You Wholesale (film)|I Can Get It for You Wholesale]]'' (1951) as J.F. Noble
* ''[[The Light Touch]]'' (1951) as Felix Guignol
* ''[[Ivanhoe (1952 film)|Ivanhoe]]''  (1952) as De Bois-Guilbert
* ''[[Assignment – Paris!]]'' (1952) as Nicholas Strang
* ''[[Call Me Madam (film)|Call Me Madam]]'' (1953) as General Cosmo Constantine
* ''[[Witness to Murder]]'' (1954) as Albert Richter
* ''[[King Richard and the Crusaders]]'' (1954) as [[King Richard I]]
* ''[[Journey to Italy]]'' (''Viaggio in Italia'') (1954) as Alexander 'Alex' Joyce
* ''[[Jupiter's Darling (film)|Jupiter's Darling]]'' (1955) as Fabius Maximus
* ''[[Moonfleet (1955 film)|Moonfleet]]'' (1955) as Lord Ashwood
* ''[[The Scarlet Coat]]'' (1955) as Dr. Jonathan Odell
* ''[[The King's Thief]]'' (1955) as [[Charles II of England|Charles II]]
* ''[[Never Say Goodbye (1956 film)|Never Say Goodbye]]'' (1956) as Victor
* ''[[While the City Sleeps (1956 film)|While the City Sleeps]]'' (1956) as Mark Loving
* ''[[That Certain Feeling (film)|That Certain Feeling]]'' (1956) as Larry Larkin
* ''[[Death of a Scoundrel]]'' (1956) as Clementi Sabourin
* ''[[The Seventh Sin]]'' (1957) as Tim Waddington
* ''[[Rock-A-Bye Baby (film)|Rock-A-Bye Baby]]'' (1958) as Danny Poole (1959) (scenes cut)
* ''[[The Whole Truth (1958 film)|The Whole Truth]]'' (1958) as Carliss
* ''[[From the Earth to the Moon (film)|From the Earth to the Moon]]'' (1958) as Stuyvesant Nicholl
* ''[[That Kind of Woman]]'' (1959) as A.L.
* ''[[Solomon and Sheba (1959 film)|Solomon and Sheba]]'' (1959) as Adonijah
* ''[[A Touch of Larceny]]'' (1960) as Sir Charles Holland
* ''[[The Last Voyage]]'' (1960) as Captain Robert Adams
* ''[[Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons]]'' (1960) as [[Henri Landru]]
* ''[[Cone of Silence (film)|Cone of Silence]]'' (1960) as Sir Arnold Hobbes
* ''[[Village of the Damned (1960 film)|Village of the Damned]]'' (1960) as Gordon Zellaby
* ''[[The Rebel (1961 film)|The Rebel]]'' (aka, ''Call Me Genius'', 1961) as Sir Charles Brewer
* ''[[Five Golden Hours]]'' (1961) as Mr. Bing
* ''Le Rendez-vous'' (1961) as J.K. / Kellermann
* ''[[Operation Snatch]]'' (1962) as Maj. Hobson
* ''[[In Search of the Castaways (film)|In Search of the Castaways]]'' (1962) as Thomas Ayerton
* ''[[Cairo (1963 film)|Cairo]]'' (1963) as The Major
* ''[[The Cracksman]]'' (1963) as Guv'nor
* ''[[Dark Purpose]]'' (1964) as Raymond Fontaine
* ''[[The Golden Head]]'' (1964) as Basil Palmer
* ''[[A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)|A Shot in the Dark]]'' (1964) as Benjamin Ballon
* ''[[Last Plane to Baalbeck]]'' (1965) as Prince Makowski
* ''[[The Golden Head]]'' (1965) as Basil Palmer
* ''[[The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders]]'' (1965) as The Banker
* ''[[Trunk to Cairo]]'' (1965) as Professor Schlieben
* ''[[The Quiller Memorandum]]'' (1966) as Gibbs
* ''Witchdoctor in Tails'' as the narrator (1966)
* ''[[Warning Shot (1967 film)|Warning Shot]]'' (1967) as Calvin York
* ''[[Good Times (film)|Good Times]]'' (1967) as Mordicus / Knife McBlade / White hunter / Zarubian
* ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'' (1967) as [[Shere Khan]], the Tiger (voice)
* ''Laura'' (1968 TV movie) as Waldo Lydecker
* ''[[King of Africa (film)|King of Africa]]'' (1968) as Captain Walter Phillips
* ''[[The Candy Man (film)|The Candy Man]]'' (1969) as Sidney Carter
* ''[[The Girl from Rio (1969 film)|The Girl from Rio]]'' (1969) as Masius
* ''[[The Body Stealers]]'' (1969) as General Armstrong
* ''[[The Best House in London]]'' (1969) as Sir Francis Leybourne
* ''[[The Kremlin Letter]]'' (1970) as Warlock
* ''[[Rendezvous with Dishonour]]'' (1970) as General Downes
* ''[[Doomwatch (film)|Doomwatch]]'' (1972) as The Admiral – Sir Geoffrey
* ''[[Endless Night (1972 film)|Endless Night]]'' (1972) as Andrew Lippincott (released posthumously)
* ''[[Psychomania]]'' (1973) as Shadwell (final film role, released posthumously)
{{div col end}}

==Television==
* ''[[Screen Directors Playhouse]]'' (1956) as Charles Ferris / Baron
* ''[[Ford Star Jubilee]]'' "You're the Top" (1956)
* ''[[The George Sanders Mystery Theater]]'' (1957)
* ''[[What's My Line?]]'' 15 September 1957 (Episode No. 380) (season 9, episode 3) Mystery Guest
* ''[[The Rogues (TV series)|The Rogues]]'' (1965) as Leonard Carvel
* ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)|Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]'' - "[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)#Season 1 (1964–65)|The Traitor]]" (1965) as Fenton
* ''[[The Man From U.N.C.L.E.]]'' - "[[List of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episodes#Season 1 (1964–65)|The Gazebo in the Maze Affair]]" and "[[List of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episodes#Season 2 (1965–66)|The Yukon Affair]]" (1965) as G. Emory Partridge
* ''[[Daniel Boone (1964 TV series)|Daniel Boone]]'' (1966) as Col. Roger Barr
* ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' (1966) as [[Mr. Freeze]]
* ''[[Mission: Impossible]]'' - "[[Mission: Impossible (season 5)#Episodes|The Merchant]]" (1971) as Armand Anderssarian

==Broadway==
* ''[[Conversation Piece (musical)|Conversation Piece]]'', at the 44th Street Theatre, 1934

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* Aherne, Brian. ''A Dreadful Man: The Story of Hollywood's Most Original Cad, George Sanders''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. {{ISBN|0-671-24797-2}}.
* McNally, Peter. ''Bette Davis: The Performances that made her Great''. Jefferson North Carolina: McFarland, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3499-2}}.
* Niven, David. ''The Moon's A Balloon''. London: Dell Publishing, 1983. {{ISBN|978-0-440-15806-6}}.
* Sanders, George. ''Memoirs of a Professional Cad: The Autobiography of George Sanders''. London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1960. {{ISBN|0-8108-2579-1}}.
* VanDerBeets, Richard. ''George Sanders: An Exhausted Life''. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Madison Books, 1990. {{ISBN|0-8191-7806-3}}.
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last= Alistair |first= Rupert |title= The Name Below the Title : 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age |chapter= George Sanders |pages= 237–239 |date= 2018 |edition= First |type= softcover |publisher= Independently published |location= Great Britain |isbn = 978-1-7200-3837-5}}

==External links==
{{portal|Biography}}

* {{IMDb name}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{Screenonline name|494407}}
* {{Tcmdb name}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline|George Sanders}}

{{S-start}}
|-
!colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;"| Husband of a Gabor Sister
{{s-bef | before= [[Conrad Hilton]]}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Zsa Zsa Gabor|Zsa Zsa]] – Third  | years = 2 April 1949 – 2 April 1954 <br> Divorced}}
{{s-aft| after = [[Herbert Hutner]]}}
{{s-bef | before=Tony Gallucci}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Magda Gabor|Magda]] – Fifth  | years = 5 December 1970 – 6 January 1971 <br> Annulled}}
{{s-aft| after =Tibor Heltai}}
!colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;"| Acting roles
|-
{{Succession box |
before=[[Louis Hayward]] |
title=[[Simon Templar|Simon Templar Actor]] |
years=1939–1941 |
after=[[Hugh Sinclair (actor)|Hugh Sinclair]]}}
{{Succession box |
before=[[David Farrar (actor)|David Farrar]] |
title=[[Charles II of England|Charles II Actor]] |
years=1955|
after=[[Gary Raymond]]}}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Mr. Freeze|Mr. Freeze Actor]]  | years = 1966}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Otto Preminger]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Academy Award Best Supporting Actor}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, George}}
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