George Cooper Grizzard, Jr. was a renowned theater performer who made a significant impact on the Broadway stage over the course of his five-decade-long career. Born on April 1, 1928, in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, Grizzard was raised in Washington D.C. from the age of seven and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1949.
Initially, Grizzard pursued a career in advertising and radio broadcasting, but he eventually became enamored with acting and studied with the respected coach Sanford Meisner in New York. He began his apprenticeship in stock plays and eventually made his Broadway debut in 1955 in the role of Paul Newman's younger brother in "The Desperate Hours".
Grizzard went on to earn critical acclaim for his performances in a wide range of productions, including "The Happiest Millionaire", "The Disenchanted", "Big Fish, Little Fish", "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", and "A Delicate Balance", for which he won the coveted Tony Award. He also appeared in numerous other Broadway productions, including "Mary, Mary", "The Glass Menagerie", "You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running", "The Country Girl", "The Royal Family", "California Suite", "Man and Superman", "Judgment at Nuremberg", and "The Creation of the World and Other Business", in which he played the role of Lucifer.
In addition to his work on Broadway, Grizzard also appeared in a number of notable productions at regional theaters, including his title role in "Hamlet" at the Tyrone Guthrie Theater and his portrayal of Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at the Kennedy Center.
Grizzard's film career began in the 1960s, with a sampling of handsome, intellectual, and white-collared roles. He made his film debut in 1960 alongside Paul Newman in "From the Terrace" and went on to earn excellent notices for his performances in "Advise & Consent" and other films.
Grizzard also found success on television, earning an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of John Adams in "The Adams Chronicles" and winning an Emmy for his role as Henry Fonda's opportunistic son in the TV special "The Oldest Living Graduate". He continued to mix stage and on-camera work for the remainder of his career, often playing calculating and unsympathetic characters.
Grizzard was a co-founder of the APA Repertory Company in New York and took his final Broadway bow in 2005 in the surreal Edward Albee drama "Seascape". His last film role was in Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" in 2006. Grizzard passed away on October 2, 2007, at the age of 79, due to complications from lung cancer. He was survived by his long-time partner, William Tynan.
