George Chakiris born 16 September 1934George Chakiris is an American dancer and Academy Award winning film actor.
Chakiris was born in Norwood, Ohio to Greek immigrants. He made his film debut in 1947. For several years he appeared in small roles, usually as a dancer or a member of the chorus in various musical films. He was one of the dancers in Marilyn Monroe's Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend number in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and also appeared as a dancer alongside Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas. He can also be seen in the 'Chop Suey' number in the musical film Flower Drum Song.
His biggest success came with the film West Side Story (1961), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Bernardo. He also acted (along with Gene Kelly) in Jacques Demy's French musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967).
Chakiris has also appeared on Broadway and television. In the early 1960s, he embarked on a career as a pop singer which resulted in a couple of minor hit songs (In 1960, he recorded one single with legendary producer Joe Meek).
After film work dried up, he worked steadily through the 1970s and 1980s, appearing on such shows as Medical Center, Hawaii Five-O, Dallas, Murder, She Wrote and the TV daytime drama Santa Barbara. Chakiris last acted in a 1997 episode of the sitcom Last of the Summer Wine and has given occasional television interviews since then. He is mostly retired and has taken up jewellery-making as an occupation.