# George Macready
**George Macready** (full name George Peabody Macready Jr.) was an American stage, film, and television actor, born in [Providence, Rhode Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/providence-rhode-island), and active on Broadway from 1926 and in Hollywood from the early 1940s, best remembered for playing cultured villains such as Ballin Mundson in *[Gilda](https://www.edgepedia.org/gilda)* (1946) and General Paul Mireau in [Stanley Kubrick](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-kubrick)'s *Paths of Glory* (1957).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/george_macready)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | August 29, 1899, Providence, Rhode Island, USA (IBDB and Playbill list 1908)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) • [3](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/george-macready-68199) |
| Died | July 2, 1973, Los Angeles, California, USA, of emphysema, aged 73[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/george-macready/) |
| Stage career | Broadway debut 1926 in *The Scarlet Letter*; 15 Broadway plays through 1958[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) |
| Signature film roles | Ballin Mundson in *Gilda* (1946); Gen. Paul Mireau in *Paths of Glory* (1957)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/george_macready) |
| Film output | 65 titles listed in the AFI filmography, from *Commandos Strike at Dawn* (1943) to *The Return of Count Yorga* (1971)[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/58972) |
| Television | About 200 TV roles; three-year run as Martin Peyton in *Peyton Place* from 1964[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) |
| Final film role | Secretary of State Cordell Hull in *Tora! Tora! Tora!* (1970)[6](https://www.fandango.com/people/george-macready-412115/film-credits) |
## Early life and stage career
Macready graduated from [Brown University](https://www.edgepedia.org/brown-university) and worked briefly as a New York newspaperman before turning to acting on the advice of the Polish émigré stage director Richard Boleslawski, who later directed films in Hollywood including *Rasputin and the Empress* (1932) and *Clive of India* (1935). He claimed descent from the 19th-century Shakespearean actor William Macready.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/)
His Broadway debut came in 1926 in *The Scarlet Letter*, and his Broadway career extended to 1958 across 15 plays, mostly dramas with some comedies, concentrated in the 1930s. His Shakespearean work included Benedick in *Much Ado About Nothing* (1927), *Macbeth* (1928), and *Romeo and Juliet* (1934) opposite Katharine Cornell, with whom he also appeared in *The Barretts of Wimpole Street*; he co-starred with [Helen Hayes](https://www.edgepedia.org/helen-hayes) in *Victoria Regina* in 1936 and 1937.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) His later Broadway credits recorded by IBDB include *Save Me the Waltz* (1938), *American Landscape* (1938), *Brown Danube* (1939), *Foreigners* (1939), *Jason* (1942), and *The Waltz of the Toreadors* (1958).[3](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/george-macready-68199)
A curved scar on his right cheek, the remnant of a car accident around 1919, became part of his screen image; publicity preferred to present it as a saber slash from dueling in his youth.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) Combined with his height of 6 feet 1 inch, his high-brow, bottom-voiced diction, and an angular face, the scar suited him to roles as the cultured bad guy.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) • [7](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/Encyclopedia%20of%20Film%20Noir%20%28Geoff%20Mayer%2C%20Brian%20McDonnell%29.pdf)
## Hollywood career
Macready did not turn to films until 1942 and committed fully from 1944, appearing in a run of dramas and thrillers through the end of World War II. His roles in that period included *The Seventh Cross* (1944), *The Missing Juror* (1944), *Counter-Attack* (1945), and *My Name Is Julia Ross* (1945) with [Nina Foch](https://www.edgepedia.org/nina-foch).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) The AFI catalog lists 65 titles in his filmography, beginning with *Commandos Strike at Dawn* (1943), in which he played a schoolteacher.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/58972) Through the 1940s he averaged six or more films per year, working in dramas, thrillers, period pieces, and westerns.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/)
**Gilda.** His standout role, and the one he is best remembered for, was the silver-haired, dark-suited, mysteriously rich Ballin Mundson in *Gilda* (1946), who inserts himself into the lives of [Rita Hayworth](https://www.edgepedia.org/rita-hayworth) and [Glenn Ford](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-ford).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) Rotten Tomatoes records *Gilda* at 90 percent among critics and 88 percent among audiences.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/george_macready)
**Paths of Glory.** Many consider his best role the ambitious French General Paul Mireau in Stanley Kubrick's antiwar film *Paths of Glory* (1957), a martinet whose lust for glory leads to the deaths of hundreds of French soldiers in a senseless frontal attack on fortified German lines. The film also featured [Kirk Douglas](https://www.edgepedia.org/kirk-douglas), Adolphe Menjou, Ralph Meeker, and Timothy Carey, and was based on a true incident.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) Rotten Tomatoes scores it 96 percent with critics and 95 percent with audiences.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/george_macready)
Other notable film work included *The Big Clock* (1948) as Steve Hagen, *Detective Story* (1951) as Karl Schneider, *Vera Cruz* (1954) as Emperor Maximilian, *Julius Caesar* (1953) as Marullus, *A Kiss Before Dying* (1956) as Leo Kingship, *Taras Bulba* (1962) as the Governor, *Dead Ringer* (1964) as Paul Harrison, and *Seven Days in May* (1964) as Christopher Todd, an advisor to a US president played by [Fredric March](https://www.edgepedia.org/fredric-march) who attempts to stop a coup by a right-wing general played by [Burt Lancaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-lancaster).[6](https://www.fandango.com/people/george-macready-412115/film-credits) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) His next-to-last film appearance was as a very human [Cordell Hull](https://www.edgepedia.org/cordell-hull), Secretary of State, in Universal's big-budget Pearl Harbor film *Tora! Tora! Tora!* (1970), followed by *The Return of Count Yorga* (1971) as Professor Rightstat.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) • [6](https://www.fandango.com/people/george-macready-412115/film-credits)
## Television work
By the early 1950s Macready had moved into television, appearing on anthology series such as *Four Star Playhouse* (1952), *The Ford Television Theatre* (1952), and *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1955). From 1954 he became a familiar presence in episodic television, appearing on hit shows of the period including westerns such as *The Texan* (1958) and *The Rough Riders* (1958), crime dramas such as *Perry Mason* (1957), and science fiction and horror series including *Thriller* (1960), *The Outer Limits* (1963), and *Night Gallery* (1969). He accumulated some 200 TV roles in total.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide)'s credits list also record guest appearances on *The Twilight Zone*, *Bonanza*, *Gunsmoke*, *The Rifleman*, *Route 66*, *Dr. Kildare*, *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.*, and *Get Smart*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/george-macready/)
From 1964 he had a three-year run as Martin Peyton in *[Peyton Place](https://www.edgepedia.org/peyton-place-tv-series)*, the first prime-time soap opera and a launching pad for many young performers of the time.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/)
## Screen persona and assessment
Macready's screen persona was largely that of a villain, which one film noir encyclopedia attributes mainly to his rasping voice and angular facial features, including the scar on his cheek, even though he had played a variety of characters on stage.[7](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/Encyclopedia%20of%20Film%20Noir%20%28Geoff%20Mayer%2C%20Brian%20McDonnell%29.pdf) He excelled as strong-willed, authoritarian, ambitious, murderous but well-bred villains, and was grateful for the depth these roles allowed him across his film and television career.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) His range extended beyond menace: [Blake Edwards](https://www.edgepedia.org/blake-edwards)'s comedy *The Great Race* (1965), in which he played General Kuhster, stands out as an unexpected entry in his filmography.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) • [6](https://www.fandango.com/people/george-macready-412115/film-credits)
## Death
Macready died on July 2, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, of emphysema, at the age of 73.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/george-macready/)
## References
1. [George Macready – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534317/bio/)
2. [George Macready Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/george_macready)
3. [George Macready – Broadway Cast & Staff, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/george-macready-68199)
4. [George Macready – Actor, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/george-macready/)
5. [George Macready, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/58972)
6. [George Macready Filmography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/george-macready-412115/film-credits)
7. [Macready, George, in Encyclopedia of Film Noir (Mayer & McDonnell)](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/Encyclopedia%20of%20Film%20Noir%20%28Geoff%20Mayer%2C%20Brian%20McDonnell%29.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames M*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license