GEORGE J. LEWIS
December 10th, 1903 -- December 10, 1995

Above: George J. Lewis in his greatest serial role: the part of Jim Belmont in FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945).

While George J. Lewis made the majority of his serial appearances as a henchman, his cliffhanger career was far from limited to that part. Lewis was the only actor to play all the major male roles to be found in a serial--hero, sidekick, henchman, and head villain. His bad guys all were cold-blooded in the extreme--dispassionately ruthless. This businesslike approach to evil reached its peak in his best characterization in FEDERAL OPERATOR 99. And yet his good guys always displayed warm, jovial geniality in generous measures. George was one of the serials' most versatile performers, and you never quite know what character he'd be playing the next time you saw him.

George J. Lewis was born Jorge Lewis in Guadalajara, Mexico. His mother was Spanish; his father was an American businessman whose job kept the Lewis family on the move till they finally settled in San Diego circa 1920. Young Lewis's first acting experience was with small theatrical groups, but he didn't break into the movies till 1925, when Universal signed him to star in a series of short romantic college films. There were several folks who predicted that the handsome young Latin would become another Rudolph Valentino, but when the sound era came in, George gradually dropped out of the star ranks, probably due to his slight but noticeable Spanish accent. He played the hero in Spanish-language versions of THE BIG TRAIL and LAST OF THE DUANES in the early thirties, shortly before being hired by Mascot Pictures to appear in their cliffhangers, as countless other silent stars had been. His first serial was THE WOLF DOG (Mascot, 1933), in which he played the hero, Bob Whitlock. Lewis later recalled that, when he made this cliffhanger, he "never worked harder in my life", due to Mascot's breakneck filming methods--shooting began at five in the morning and continued past sundown. The serial had a breakneck pace, too; it featured George as a young inventor who came to the aid of a rich boy (Frankie Darro) endangered by a crooked guardian: Darro then returned the favor by helping Lewis protect one of his valuable inventions from spies, with the help of Rin Tin Tin Jr. as the dog of the title. George then played Bud Foster, the brother of hero Jack Foster (Malcom McGregor), and was killed by the mystery villain THE WHISPERING SHADOW (Mascot, 1933). His last Mascot serial role came in Mascot's last serial, THE FIGHTING MARINES (Mascot, 1935), as the heroine's brother. Lewis, a Marine Sergeant, was kidnapped by the henchmen of the evil Tiger Shark when he stumbled on the villain's island hideout. Fellow Marines Grant Withers and Adrian Morris rescued George, but, on returning to the mainland, he was killed by a Tiger Shark henchman while in the hospital. Considering the rough treatment afforded his early good guy roles, maybe it's no wonder Lewis "turned to crime" in most of his subsequent cliffhangers.

Above: A thug is about to konk George J. Lewis in THE WOLF DOG (Mascot, 1933).

Above: George J. Lewis has “electrified” Tom London (far right) and Stanley Blystone in another scene from THE WOLF DOG (Mascot, 1933).

Above, from left to right: Grant Withers, Anne Rutherford, and George J. Lewis in THE FIGHTING MARINES (Mascot, 1935).

When Mascot merged with two other studios to form Republic Pictures, George went along for the ride and appeared in several films for the fledgling studio, most notably Gene Autry's excellent B-western RIDE, RANGER, RIDE. Lewis also made frequent appearances at other studios for the rest of the decade, returning to serials at Universal Pictures in 1942 with GANGBUSTERS. Based on the popular radio show, the serial featured Kent Taylor and Robert Armstrong in the title roles as they went about combating a gang of ruthless criminals know as the "League of Murdered Men", headed by Ralph Morgan. Lewis was Joey Morrison--and one of the key members of the League--until he was shot and killed trying to ram through a police roadblock at the end of Chapter Three. George next returned to Republic for SPY SMASHER (Republic, 1942), (in which he played a small henchman role, and for PERILS OF NYOKA (Republic, 1942). The latter featured him in a more notable part as Batan, chief lieutenant to evil Arab Charles Middleton, who in turn was villainess Lorna Gray's chief lieutenant. In effect, George was the henchman's henchman, but it was certainly his best bad guy part to date, as he chased the good guys--particularly heroine Kay Aldridge and hero Clayton Moore--hither and thither across the desert and helped to make things tough for the Campbell Expedition, a group that had come seeking the Lost Tablets of Hippocrates.

Above: George J. Lewis (far right) prepares to stretch Kay Aldridge on a rack at the command of Lorna Gray and Charles Middleton (second from left) in a tense scene from PERILS OF NYOKA (Republic, 1942).

George came into his own as a serial henchman in G-MEN VS. THE BLACK DRAGON (Republic, 1943), helmed by William Witney, who had also directed PERILS OF NYOKA. A literally explosive wartime spy saga, G-MEN featured the talented Rod Cameron as FBI agent Rex Bennett, who teamed with Chinese and British agents (Roland Got and Constance Worth) to track down the Black Dragon society, a group of Japanese terrorist operating in the United States and led by Baron Oyama Haruchi (Nino Pipitone). While Haruchi was the brains of the Black Dragon group, most of the active dirty work was handled by his lieutenants Ranga and Lugo--which is where Lewis comes in. George was Lugo, and teamed with Noel Cravat's Ranga to create one of the most dangerous, vicious pairs of henchmen in serial history as they went around destroying American defenses and murdering various victims with absolute lack of remorse. Lewis, for the first time, displayed the inhuman detachment that would become the special mark of his serial heavies, and the audience was undoubtedly delighted when the evil Lugo was gunned down by Rex Bennett in the final chapter.

Above: George J. Lewis (far left) attempts to give Rod Cameron the axe, while Roland Got (far right) struggles with Noel Cravat in one of the dynamic fight scenes from G-MEN VS. THE BLACK DRAGON (Republic, 19430.

George carried on his villainy at Republic with DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST, released immediately after G-MEN VS THE BLACK DRAGON. He was again one of a pair of "action heavies" but this time he was more obviously subordinate to his co-villain, William Haade. As a pair of Western bad guys in the employ of Robert Frazer, the duo did their best to stop heroine Kay Aldridge from completing her stage line, but were stopped themselves by hero Allan Lane. Lewis then signed on under another Japanese saboteur in BATMAN (Columbia, 1943), J. Carroll Naish's "Dr. Daka." As a henchman named Burke, George engaged in frequent combats with Batman and Robin (Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft) but was turned over to the law in the end. George's fourth serial in 1943 (and, indeed, the fourth consecutive serial to be released that year) was SECRET SERVICE IN DARKEST AFRICA at Republic, in which he played an unnamed Arab henchman who was shot following a fight with--Rod Cameron as Rex Bennett!

Above: George J. Lewis (far right) looks like he's giving some backtalk to his boss Robert Frazer (second from left) in DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST (Republic, 1943). William Haade is on the far left; Ted Adams is between Frazer and Lewis. DAREDEVILS has long been acclaimed as one of the greatest Republics, but unfortunately it is now "lost" with the exception of four chapters, which have served to whet fans' appetites for a complete restoration.

Lewis was slated to play another action heavy in the fall of 1943--Killer Mace in Republic's THE MASKED MARVEL--but instead Republic gave the role to Anthony Warde, although George still made it into the serial, in the small role of a crooked lawyer named Phillip Morton. Lewis was back in business as a top henchman in December, in Republic's CAPTAIN AMERICA. Rather freely adapted from the famous comic book character, the serial starred Dick Purcell as the masked crimefighter Captain America, who was really crusading DA Grant Gardner. The villain of the piece was respectable scientist Dr. Maldor (Lionel Atwill) who secretly nourished a grudge against a group of fellow scientists and was determined to kill them all one by one. To that end, he enlisted Trigger Matson (Lewis) as his chief gunman, but Matson and Maldor ran into stiff opposition from Gardner/Captain America and his aide Gail Richards (Lorna Gray). George apparently exited the serial early when he was punched off a tower by Captain America in Chapter Eleven and died from the fall, but he was promptly brought back to life by a machine stolen by Atwill, and he lasted until the last chapter, when he was taken prisoner by Grant Gardner. Another one of the top contenders for Republic's most action-packed serial, CAPTAIN AMERICA offered Lewis another chance to do his evil best, and George availed himself of it, managing to keep from being upstaged by either Purcell or Atwill--no easy task.

Above: Captain America (Dick Purcell, far right) catches Matson (George J. Lewis, far left) and Tom Steele (center) robbing a safe in CAPTAIN AMERICA (Republic, 1943).

You can't keep a good bad guy down, and Lewis, not in the least phased by his prolific 1943 output, was back for more villainy in 1944, first off in Republic's THE TIGER WOMAN. A so-called jungle epic that felt more like a Western, the serial introduced Linda Stirling, the most popular of cliffhanger heroines, in the role of a white goddess who protected her people from oil profiteers led by LeRoy Mason and Crane Whitley. American oil engineer Allan Lane respected the tribe's lands; he helped the Tiger Woman fight the bad guys and proved that she was an heiress who had been lost in the jungle when a little child. George was Morgan, the active agent for Mason and Whitley, and directed the legion of stuntmen/henchmen with expertise. Indeed, he almost conducted himself like his bosses' equal, till Lane machine-gunned him as George was dive-bombing a cabin in which Lane and Stirling where trapped. Maybe George helped make things tough for Linda onscreen, but behind the scenes, he and Duncan Renaldo (who played Lane's sidekick) went out of their way to help the novice Serial Queen learn the hard ropes of cliffhanger acting.

Above: Morgan (George J. Lewis), kidnapping the Tiger Woman (Linda Stirling) is startled as an arrow flies into a tree in this still from THE TIGER WOMAN (Republic, 1944).

Lewis next played a small role as another Arab in THE DESERT HAWK (Columbia, 1944). His second and last Universal outing was RAIDERS OF GHOST CITY (Universal, 1944), where he teamed up with Lionel Atwill again. Atwill was a Prussian spy manipulating Regis Toomey's Confederate guerillas for his own ends, and George was Friedrich Lentz, one of Atwill's trusted cohorts. He next returned to Republic for HAUNTED HARBOR (Republic, 1944), as Dranga, a South Seas storekeeper who was supposedly helping hero Kane Richmond clear himself of a murder charge but who was really in cahoots with gold smuggler Roy Barcroft. Lewis did a great job in this sneaky role, always relaying the good guys' plans to Barcroft while maintaining their confidence. He was exposed in Chapter Eight, accidentally machine-gunned by Barcroft while in an airplane, and crashed into an explosives-filled shack--a fate reminiscent of his sticky end in THE TIGER WOMAN. Columbia's BLACK ARROW, also 1944, featured Lewis as Snake-that-Walks, an upstart Indian who ousted the rightful chief, Black Arrow (Robert Scott) and co-operated with villain Kenneth MacDonald in his attempts to start up an Indian war. Scott, however, managed to return to his tribe and thrust Lewis from his usurped position.

Above: Kane Richmond socks John Daheim as George Lewis prepares to take a hand in the fight in HAUNTED HARBOR (Republic, 1944).

Above, from left to right: George J. Lewis, Chief Thundercloud, and Robert Scott in BLACK ARROW (Columbia, 1944).

Then, just when Lewis figured that his serial career must be winding down, he was cast as the hero in Republic's ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP at the age of 41. The serial had nothing to do with Zorro, but instead chronicled the adventures of Linda Stirling as a masked avenger called the Whip, who took up the identity of her murdered brother and tried to clean up an outlaw gang headed by Francis MacDonald. Lewis was Vic Gordon, a undercover agent who was unaware of Stirling's secret identity until Chapter Nine, but who provided the Whip with able support, handling most of the serial's hard action and disguising himself as the Whip at one point to help Linda cover up her secret. It was a piece of surprising casting, but George carried it off well.

Above: George J. Lewis revives Linda Stirling while Hal Taliaferro lies unconscious on the floor in ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP (Republic, 1944).

Lewis's next serial gave him his best cliffhanger role (it was also his personal favorite among his serial parts). FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945), a slick detective/crime cliffhanger, featured George as Jim Belmont, a philosophical, suave criminal mastermind who specialized in organizing brilliant robberies and who played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on the piano in his spare time--a crook, but a crook with culture. Lewis was well matched by self-possessed British actor Marten Lamont, who played the title role, and the battle of wits between the two actors made the serial a very entertaining one. George had the time of his life as Belmont, carrying his usual icy villainy to the height of inhuman abstraction, well illustrated in one scene when he continues to play his beloved Beethoven while his underlings torture a prisoner. From stealing a country's Crown Jewels to pulling off a payroll robbery to stealing a prize violin, Belmont's plans were sophisticated in the extreme, and it took all of Operator 99's strength to combat them. Lewis handled all aspects of his role expertly, and created one of the most memorable of serial villains. Ironically--but typical of Lewis's versatility--the actor most folks identified as an action heavy gave his best performance as a brains heavy.

Above, from left to right: Lorna Gray, George J. Lewis, Hal Taliaferro, and Jay Novello in FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945).

Lewis debuted in a new type of serial role the same year; it was as if he had reached the peak of villainy with Jim Belmont and had to branch out into another field. THE PHANTOM RIDER (Republic, 1945), cast Lewis as Blue Feather, a college-educated Indian, who returned to his reservation determined to help his people learn the ways of civilization. A gang of bad guys led by Kenne Duncan and LeRoy Mason were terrorizing both the Indians and the neighboring ranchers, and Lewis attempted to get an Indian Police Force organized to battle this threat. A government bill needed to be passed in order to put the Police into effect, and the outlaws did their best to destroy Blue Feather and his plan, but the Phantom Rider, legendary guardian of the tribe, came to the rescue and battled the badmen till they were defeated in the last chapter. The Rider was really hero Dr. Jim Sterling (Robert Kent), but he managed to keep his identity secret from both the Indians and the bad guys, although the educated Lewis seemed to suspect who the Rider was at several points in the serial. George handled this character role well, once more displaying his amazing versatility.

Above: Chief Thundercloud (far left) and George J. Lewis (second from left) are captured by Kenne Duncan and a band of treacherous renegade Indians in THE PHANTOM RIDER (Republic, 1945).

George took time off from serials for the next three years, appearing in small, large, and medium roles in A and B movies alike. His next cliffhanger, ADVENTURES OF FRANK AND JESSE JAMES (Republic, 1948) returned him to the action heavy mold, and he did a good job as he carried out orders for John Crawford and tried to keep the repentant James Brothers (Clayton Moore as Jesse and Steve Darrell as Frank) from helping heroine Noel Neill develop her murdered father's gold mine. Then he played his first full-fledged sidekick part in GHOST OF ZORRO (Republic, 1949), as Moccasin, faithful Indian servant of the Vega family, and aided their descendant, Ken Mason (Clayton Moore) in assuming the identity of Zorro. Together, they fought a band of outlaws who were out to stop a the completion of a telegraph line and eventually brought them to justice. It was George who got to put the final bullet in chief henchman Roy Barcroft, saving Moore’s life, in the last chapter.

Above: Clayton Moore (far left) has the drop on David Sharpe (center) and the black-clad George J. Lewis in ADVENTURES OF FRANK AND JESSE JAMES (Republic, 1948).

Above: George (left), this time on Clayton Moore's side, confers with Moore (wearing the Zorro mask) in GHOST OF ZORRO (Republic, 1949).

Lewis's farewell to Republic came with the fast-paced RADAR PATROL VS. SPY KING in 1949. For the second and last time he was the sidekick, this time a Mexican border patrol agent who helped G-man Kirk Alyn get a border radar station erected despite the interference of "Spy King" John Merton and his cohorts Eve Whitney and Anthony Warde. Interestingly, this last Republic serial marked the first time George played a character who hailed from his own birthplace, Mexico (although, as an Indian servant of a Spanish family, he had used some Spanish phrases in GHOST OF ZORRO). Appropriately, the serial, one of the best latter-day Republics, ended with Alyn quipping that if the Spy King's kind all met their deserved ends, law enforcers would be out of a job, whereupon Lewis responded "Fine; I want to retire anyway." He didn't quite retire from serials, though, as he did one more Columbia cliffhanger, CODY OF THE PONY EXPRESS, released right after SPY KING in early 1950. In this Western outing he was the boss villain again, a crooked frontier lawyer named Mort Black under orders to grab all the land he could for development by a big Eastern syndicate. Lewis once again carried off the brains heavy role with honors, but he was thwarted by Army agent Jock Mahoney and Dickie Moore, who played the young Bill Cody.

Above: George J. Lewis (left) and Kirk Alyn prepare to leap into action in RADAR PATROL VS. SPY KING (Republic, 1949).

George's post-serial career gave him a variety of roles, ranging from another great henchman part in Lash LaRue's B-western KING OF THE BULLWHIP to a small role opposite Bud Abbot and Lou Costello in the hilarious ABBOT AND COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN. Some of his best roles in big-budget films came courtesy of his personal friend Alan Ladd, who got Lewis some good character parts in films like DESERT LEGION, SASKATCHEWAN, and IRON MISTRESS. George also turned in appearances on a lot of TV shows, including THE LONE RANGER and THE GENE AUTRY SHOW, and it was TV that would give him the last--and probably the greatest--big role of his career. Walt Disney's magnificent ZORRO TV show, from 1957-1959, introduced Lewis to a whole new generation of viewers as Don Alejandro de la Vega, father of Don Diego/Zorro (Guy Williams). Lewis played Alejandro as a hot-headed, sincere, and fiercely proud old man, and gave the character true emotional depth, showing how good a serial actor could be if given a true dramatic role. It was appropriate that George, after aiding a pseudo-Zorro in ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP and the real Zorro in GHOST OF ZORRO, should once again support the masked avenger. In Lewis's own words: "I got my final break. I should have known it would have something to do with Zorro, like it did before. When I thought my big parts in serials were coming to an end in 1944, I got the lead in the serial Zorro's Black Whip. Imagine getting a lead at 41. Then, when my serials were all played out, I got the second lead in Ghost of Zorro. Now, when I figure any steady work is finished, I'm given the role of Zorro's father in the Disney TV series." After the Zorro show ended its run, George returned for four more hour-long Zorro adventures on WALT DISNEY PRESENTS in the early sixties, and made his final appearance in a cameo role as a Spanish UN ambassador in the Adam West BATMAN movie in 1966.

Above: George J. Lewis (right) and Guy Williams on Walt Disney's classic ZORRO TV show.

George retired to California, where he ran a successful real estate business for several years. He made many appearances at B-western and serial conventions, where he very articulately summed up the challenge of serial acting by explaining how a cliffhanger performer is expected to bring conviction to the most impossible dialogue. George J. Lewis died at his home in California on his 92nd birthday, after a long and full life that brought joy to more than one generation of screen viewers. From a popular silent hearthrob to a juvenile lead in the Mascot serials to an ideally menacing serial villain to Don Alejandro on TV, George J. Lewis kept coming up with new characterizations to entertain his many fans. And, even today, through the popularity of the Zorro show--and of the great cliffhanger serials--George J. Lewis is a living legend to those who know his work.

Above: LeRoy Mason (far left) and Hal Taliaferro (far right) listen to George J. Lewis, a maestro in more ways than one, play the Moonlight Sonata in FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945).