# George Maharis
**George Maharis** (born George Mahairas; September 1, 1928 – May 24, 2023) was an American actor, singer, and visual artist best known for playing Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the CBS television series *Route 66* (1960–1963), a role that earned him a 1962 Emmy nomination.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/george-maharis) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536781/) He also recorded pop albums for [Epic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/epic-records), starred in the 1970 series *The Most Deadly Game*, and worked in film and television until retiring in the early 1990s.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/george-maharis) • [3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/george-maharis/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | September 1, 1928, Astoria, Queens, New York; May 24, 2023, Beverly Hills, California, aged 94[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/george-maharis) • [4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-dead/) |
| Signature role | Buz Murdock on *Route 66*, CBS, 1960–1963, 82 episodes[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536781/) |
| Emmy nomination | Outstanding Continued Performance By An Actor In A Series (Lead), 1962, for *Route 66*[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/george-maharis) |
| Recording career | Pop albums on Epic; 1962 cover of "Teach Me Tonight" reached No. 25 on the Billboard chart[5](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/george-maharis-mn0000544809) • [6](https://www.tvinsider.com/1094555/george-maharis-death-route-66-actor/) |
| Stage honor | Theatre World Award for his performance in Edward Albee's *The Zoo Story*[7](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/George-Maharis/) |
| Departure from *Route 66* | Left during the third season in 1962 after hepatitis and a relapse; producers disputed his account[8](https://www.route66news.com/2007/10/15/a-chat-with-george-maharis/) |
| Final screen work | Last television role in *Murder, She Wrote* (1990); last film *Doppelganger* (1993)[9](https://www.behanworks.com/?offset=1791487610806) |
## Early life and training
Maharis was born in [Astoria, Queens](https://www.edgepedia.org/astoria-queens), one of seven children of Greek immigrants who ran a restaurant and wanted him to join the family business.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-dead/) His surname at birth was Mahairas, which he shortened to Maharis when he became an actor.[10](https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/george-maharis-birth-1928-death-2023-united-states/192905387) He first pursued singing, but extensive overuse of his voice and improper vocal lessons damaged his vocal cords, and he turned to acting instead.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536781/)
**Method training.** He studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse with [Sanford Meisner](https://www.edgepedia.org/sanford-meisner) and at the [Actors Studio](https://www.edgepedia.org/actors-studio) with [Lee Strasberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-strasberg), and worked in live television dramas and sitcoms including *The Phil Silvers Show*, *Mister Peepers*, and *Naked City*.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536781/) • [11](https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-star-dead-at-94/) His film debut came in *The Mugger* (1958), and he appeared in Otto Preminger's *Exodus* (1960) as Yoav.[12](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/58977) On the late-1950s off-Broadway scene he drew attention in Jean Genet's *Deathwatch* and Edward Albee's *The Zoo Story*, winning a Theatre World Award for the latter.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536781/) • [7](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/George-Maharis/)
## Route 66
Producer Herbert B. Leonard and writer Stirling Silliphant, the team behind *Naked City*, conceived *Route 66* as a vehicle for Maharis, casting him as Buz Murdock, a stormy street kid from New York, opposite [Martin Milner](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-milner) as the Yale-educated Tod Stiles. When Tod's father dies leaving him little but a Corvette, the two set out across America looking for "a place to put down roots."[13](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/route-66) The series aired on CBS from October 1960 to September 1964 in a Friday 8:30–9:30 slot and ran 116 episodes.[13](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/route-66)
The show was unusual for being shot on location in new towns and cities for each episode, and its guest roles gave early exposure to actors including [Robert Redford](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-redford), James Caan, Robert Duvall, and [Alan Alda](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-alda).[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-dead/) Maharis described the pace as punishing: "We worked six days a week, sometimes seven, because we were always behind schedule. You got up at 5 in the morning and you get back to your motel at 7 or 9 at night."[8](https://www.route66news.com/2007/10/15/a-chat-with-george-maharis/) Within the series he was the draw: a 1963 *TV Guide* report put his fan mail at up to 5,000 letters in a good month against about 1,800 for Milner.[14](https://ohio66.com/newspaper/tvguide/1963-01-26.asp)
## Departure from the series
In 1962 Maharis contracted infectious hepatitis and spent a month in the hospital while Milner filmed solo episodes to finish the second season.[15](https://www.ohio66.com/starring-george-maharis/) He returned for the start of the third season, then left again in mid-November 1962, saying the producers had broken a promise of a light schedule; he told an interviewer that after a grueling scene in near-freezing water he suffered a relapse, and that his doctor warned he would suffer permanent liver damage or die if he did not stop.[14](https://ohio66.com/newspaper/tvguide/1963-01-26.asp) • [8](https://www.route66news.com/2007/10/15/a-chat-with-george-maharis/)
The producers expressed doubt that he was ill and implied he was trying to escape his contract for better-paying film work.[14](https://ohio66.com/newspaper/tvguide/1963-01-26.asp) His biographer Karen Blocher reported a further factor: executive producer Leonard, having learned that Maharis was gay, cited the actor's homosexuality and alleged run-ins with the law as reasons he could not be trusted, and Blocher concluded that Maharis's health concerns were legitimate given the working conditions.[16](https://www.route66news.com/2006/09/05/why-did-george-maharis-leave-route-66-part-2/) [Glenn Corbett](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-corbett) replaced him as Linc Case, and the show lasted one more season.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-dead/) Maharis himself denied in a 2007 interview that money or a wish to make movies drove the exit: "I wasn't interested in leaving the show. I enjoyed it."[8](https://www.route66news.com/2007/10/15/a-chat-with-george-maharis/)
## Film, later television, and music
After leaving the series Maharis took leading roles in mid- and late-1960s films including *The Satan Bug* (1965, as Lee Barrett), *Sylvia* (1965), *A Covenant with Death* (1967), *The Happening* (1967), *The Desperados* (1969), and *Land Raiders* (1970).[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-dead/) • [12](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/58977) In 1970 he returned to weekly television as criminologist Jonathan Croft in the [Aaron Spelling](https://www.edgepedia.org/aaron-spelling) series *The Most Deadly Game*, which was cancelled after one season.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/george-maharis/)
**Guest roles and later work.** Through the 1970s and 1980s he appeared in television movies such as *Escape to Mindanao*, *Murder on Flight 502*, *SST: Disaster in the Sky*, and *The Crash of Flight 401*, and guest-starred on series including *Mission: Impossible*, *Marcus Welby, M.D.*, *The Bionic Woman*, *Police Story*, *Fantasy Island*, and *Murder, She Wrote*.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-dead/) His film work included *The Sword and the Sorcerer* (1982) and *Doppelganger* (1993), his last screen performance.[12](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/58977) • [9](https://www.behanworks.com/?offset=1791487610806)
He had begun as a singer, learning the trade in small groups in New York clubs, and recorded pop albums on Epic Records during his *Route 66* fame; his 1962 cover of "Teach Me Tonight" reached No. 25 on the Billboard chart.[5](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/george-maharis-mn0000544809) • [6](https://www.tvinsider.com/1094555/george-maharis-death-route-66-actor/) In 1965 he told a trade paper that he was still interested in a singing and acting part in a Broadway musical.[17](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Music-Business/Music-Business-1965-03-13.pdf)
## Personal life and later years
Maharis posed nude for *[Playgirl](https://www.edgepedia.org/playgirl)* magazine in 1973, and was arrested in 1967 and 1974 on lewd conduct charges involving men; in the 1967 case the charge was dismissed when he pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and paid a $50 fine.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-dead/) • [9](https://www.behanworks.com/?offset=1791487610806) He never publicly discussed his sexuality.[9](https://www.behanworks.com/?offset=1791487610806)
After retiring from acting in the early 1990s he focused on impressionistic oil painting, showing work at the Elizabeth Collection in [Rochester, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/rochester-new-york), and managed investments from homes in Beverly Hills and New York City.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536781/) • [8](https://www.route66news.com/2007/10/15/a-chat-with-george-maharis/) He died at his home in Beverly Hills on May 24, 2023, at 94; his friend and caretaker Marc Bahan said the cause was complications from hepatitis.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-dead/)
## References
1. [George Maharis, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/george-maharis)
2. [George Maharis, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536781/)
3. [George Maharis, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/george-maharis/)
4. [George Maharis, dashing star of 'Route 66,' dies at 94, The Washington Post (AP)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-dead/)
5. [George Maharis, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/george-maharis-mn0000544809)
6. ['Route 66' Star George Maharis Dies at 94, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/1094555/george-maharis-death-route-66-actor/)
7. [George Maharis, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/George-Maharis/)
8. [A chat with George Maharis, Route 66 News (2007)](https://www.route66news.com/2007/10/15/a-chat-with-george-maharis/)
9. [James Behan, George Maharis timeline](https://www.behanworks.com/?offset=1791487610806)
10. [George Maharis (1928–2023), AncientFaces](https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/george-maharis-birth-1928-death-2023-united-states/192905387)
11. [George Maharis, 'Route 66' Star, Dead At 94, Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2023/05/28/george-maharis-route-66-star-dead-at-94/)
12. [George Maharis, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/58977)
13. [Route 66, Television Academy Interviews (Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television)](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/route-66)
14. [A Knock Develops on 'Route 66,' TV Guide, January 26, 1963](https://ohio66.com/newspaper/tvguide/1963-01-26.asp)
15. [Starring George Maharis, Ohio66](https://www.ohio66.com/starring-george-maharis/)
16. [Why did George Maharis leave 'Route 66'? Part 2, Route 66 News (2006)](https://www.route66news.com/2006/09/05/why-did-george-maharis-leave-route-66-part-2/)
17. ["Singing will always be part of my career," Music Business, March 13, 1965](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Music-Business/Music-Business-1965-03-13.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