March 29, 2025 • 17 mins
In this episode of The Rest of the Story on Hey, Dancer!, I’m diving into George Chakiris, a guy who started as a background dancer behind stars like Marilyn Monroe and Rosemary Clooney.
Then he landed a major role in London’s West Side Story, hired by Jerome Robbins. That took him to Hollywood and a rare, dance-driven Oscar win.
It’s a story of hard work and a big break. Want to know how a chorus dancer made it to the top? Join me to hear this legend’s journey unfold.
Check out my Return to Dance docuseries!
Support my Instagram — where I post daily dance inspo, insights and fun! @backtogreat
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Hey Dancer.
(00:04):
I'm your host Miller Daurey.
If you're hooked on the grind, the sweat and those unsung tales of dance.
I gotta tell you, you're in the right spot.
Today's episode is about a kid who fought his way from the shadows to the spotlight, one
step at a time.
Just take a moment to hit subscribe on YouTube.
(00:25):
If you're watching there, you can like the video, leave a comment and hit that notification
bell so you are immediately alerted when a video drops.
And hey, if you have recommendations for subjects, dancers, choreographers, for future episodes,
again, tell me below in the comments.
And if you're listening on Apple, Spotify, anywhere else, make sure you rate and review
(00:49):
and follow.
It means a lot.
It goes a long way.
Thank you so much.
Okay.
Now, let's jazz kick our way into another inspiring dance journey.
Let's get into it.
This story begins with a boy born to Greek immigrants from a Turkish village called Platiano,
(01:09):
a place he'd later describe as a mix of Greeks and Turks.
He grew up in Norwood, Ohio, one of eight kids in a tight-knit family that moved around
a lot, chasing work and new starts, singing lit up his world early on.
He'd walk home from movie musicals, crooning the tunes in his head, lost in a fantasy.
(01:34):
I knew I had a decent voice.
He once told an interviewer, though he kept it all to himself way back then.
Before settling in Long Beach, California, at age 12, he sang in a two-son boy's choir
during a brief Arizona stint, just one stop in his family's wandering years.
Once in Long Beach, he joined St. Luke's Episcopal Church Choir, a gig that happened to land
(01:59):
him his first taste of Hollywood.
See, he was a tiny figure in the back of a Catherine Hepburn movie called Song of Love,
uncredited, but that moment stuck with him.
Dance wasn't part of his life yet. He was still a choir boy with big dreams and no steps
to show for it.
Dance entered his life thanks to a friend, Joan Scanlon, who'd heard about the American
(02:25):
School of Dance on Hollywood Boulevard, a place where stars like Sid Sheree's and Leslie
Carone honed their craft.
That sparked something in him, so one morning he took a train from Long Beach to Hollywood
to watch a professional class.
Now there are no big names in this class he happened to watch, just pure movement, and it
(02:51):
hit him hard.
I saw that class and knew that's what I wanted to do.
He said years later, "School didn't really hold his interest.
He gave Long Beach City College a shot after high school, but walked away after a year.
He didn't have money or connections in the business, just a burning drive to make it
happen.
(03:11):
So for it, he took a day job as an office boy in the advertising department at the May Company
downtown.
At night, he'd head to the American School of Dance for classes.
He earned a scholarship there by staying late, locking up and cleaning the mirrors.
Sometimes after those sessions, he'd walk Hollywood Boulevard all alone at 11 p.m.
(03:34):
Passing Grownman's Chinese Theatre, Dreaming of More.
His classmates swapped stories about working on Singing in the Rain, and he felt behind.
He wasn't some child prodigy doing dance, but it didn't matter.
He was ready to hustle, working days, training nights, chasing his shot.
(03:55):
His first real break came when choreographer Eugene Loring needed dozens of male dancers
for a wild Dr. Su's movie called The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
It had a big dungeon scene with more moves than the screen actor's guild could supply.
So he auditioned, got the gig, and earned enough money to join the union.
(04:18):
That cracked the door open to more work.
He danced behind Marilyn Monroe in Diamonds are a girl's best friend from Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes.
Talk about iconic, right?
He worked alongside Debbie Reynolds in Give A Girl a Break, performed Scottish Sword Dancers
in Brigaduin, and joined the ensemble of There's No Business Like Show Business.
(04:42):
Then came White Christmas, where he joined three other dancers to frame Rosemary Clooney
during her "Sultry Number" love you didn't do right by me.
Before the film even hit theaters in October 1954, Life Magazine ran a spread, with a photo
of that quartet spotlighting their sharp moves behind Clooney.
(05:05):
Well, fans noticed him in the shot and started writing letters asking "Who's that guy?"
That buzz caught Paramount's eye.
Because of those curious fans, the studio tracked him down and offered him a contract seeing
potential in the face people were talking about.
But here's the kicker.
(05:25):
When White Christmas finally rolled out, his name still didn't appear in the credits.
He was just another unlisted dancer on screen, even with Paramount's deal in his pocket,
no billing, just a paycheck and a foot in the door.
But with the advent of television, the Hollywood movie musicals were basically coming to an
(05:47):
end.
Not a lot of work.
That shift hit him hard.
His passion was alive, but the opportunities were drying up.
Frustrated with Hollywood's fading musicals, he scraped together cash for a one-way ticket
to New York in 1958 and crashed on friends' couches.
(06:07):
Those pals had already made the leap east and knew the city's rhythm, tipping him off
that west side story, a Broadway smash, nearing its first year, was hunting for replacements
and a London cast.
On their advice he walked into the Wintergarden theatre one day, with no appointment, found
(06:28):
stage manager Ruth Mitchell and asked for a chance to audition.
I don't know how I had the guts to do it, but I did, he told an interviewer later.
Ruth handed him a script to read for Jerome Robbins, the show's brilliant director and choreographer.
Now Robbins was busy rehearsing his other project, Valais USA, across town at the Alvin
(06:51):
theatre, so she sent him there.
Over the next few days he auditioned during Robbins' lunch breaks from Valais USA, he read
for Riff, the Jets leader, then spent a week learning cool, a jazzy tense song Riff sings
to keep his gang steady.
Working it out with a pianist Robbins provided, time dragged with no word stretching his nerves
(07:17):
thin, then on his birthday, September 16th, Ruth called with the news, he'd won Riff
for the London production.
He packed his bags across the ocean and spent nearly two years commanding that stage,
belting cool, fighting shin splints from Robbins punishing choreography and studying every move
(07:40):
of Bernardo, the shark's leader across the rumble.
That grind wasn't just a paycheck, it was groundwork for a future, he couldn't yet imagine.
While he was still performing Riff in London, word spread that Westside story was heading
to the big screen, five from the London cast including him, got letters from United artists
(08:03):
inviting them to test for the film, big names like Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley were
rumored for lead, so he kind of figured his odds were super slim.
Even so, when he got a break from the show, his dad picked him up at the airport back home
and drove him to the studio lot, this time he tested for Bernardo, not Riff, under the
(08:26):
eye of Jerome Robbins.
Robbins directed the test himself pushing for precision in every move, by Sunday he was
back on a plane to London, slipping back into Riff's shoes on stage, waiting and wondering
if anything would come of it.
The uncertainty nod at him, those were some long days.
(08:48):
Finally, word arrived, he'd won, Bernardo, leader of the sharks, filming Westside story stretched
over seven months, his first real dance on camera and it wasn't all smooth, those shark
skin trousers were so tight, the one day midtake, they split right down the back, he laughed
(09:10):
it off, swapped them for black tights underneath and kept going.
Co-directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins gave them room to play, laughing through floods
keeping it raw, the America number stood out, he and the sharks girls danced on a rooftop
set, blending mombo and jazz, pushing through Robbins were lenteless drills till it felt
(09:33):
alive.
All those years in the chorus had built a foundation he could lean on every step in
grain from countless rehearsals and now he finally had the chance to take the lead.
The film wrapped and anticipation built, Westside story hit theaters to raves, critics called
it a game changer, audiences packed houses and dance fans couldn't get enough of the sharks
(09:58):
and jets, then came the Oscar buzz, nominations dropped and guess what, he is up for best supporting
actor, pitted against Hollywood heavyweights like Montgomery Clift and George C Scott, opening
night of the movie had been very big obviously but this, the Oscars was next level, he rolled
(10:21):
up to the ceremony with his co-star Rita Moreno who played Anita his on-screen love, they
had grown tight during filming, laughing through takes and stayed forever friends and then first
up the category of best supporting actor, the envelope opened and, he'd won, stunned
(10:42):
he stumbled to the stage, managing only six seconds, that's it one of the shortest speeches
ever, well that win flipped his life, contracts rolled in, lead roles followed like diamond
head with Charlton Heston, he kept dancing where he could because as we know musicals
(11:02):
in Hollywood were fading, so he popped up on variety shows dancing like on the Carol Burnett
show, Hollywood tugged him toward acting though films in Japan like flight from Asia, France
with the young girls of Roachford with Jean Kelly and was a regular face on many TV classics
from the 70s and 80s like the Partridge family Dallas fantasy island murder shoe wrote Hawaii
(11:29):
O the list goes on decades later he left handprints at Grownman's Chinese theatre right
where he'd walked as a dreamer that's him a kid who battled from choir to chorus, stage
to screen, uncredited to unforgettable, his name George Chakuris and now you know the rest
(11:50):
of the story as I always say these episodes are meant to be just you know a window into a
dance legend into their life or maybe a moment in dance history it is in no way meant to be
a full resume because that would be like two hours or something and I'm trying to keep
these you know poppin and all and all that but I do like to give a little bit in the outro
(12:12):
a little bit extra so here's a little side note for you because I am really a stickler
for not missing anything up on these episodes it's amazing all the research that goes into
it that village I mentioned in the beginning Plantiano where his parents came from well George calls
it that in his memoir and in interviews a small turkish spot with Greeks and Turks mixed
(12:37):
together but if you try googling it which I did a lot you're not going to find much it turns
out it might have been too tiny to even make the maps or maybe it was renamed after the big
Greek turkish population swap in 1923 trust me I dug deep and even the history buffs don't
have a clear pin on it still it's his story it's his family's route so because of that I
(13:02):
stuck with what he says you know Plantiano that's what it's got to be but hey if you happen
to know more tell me in the comments some things about his career I wanted to note he played
Bobby in the first national tour of Steven Saundheim's company 1971 opposite leading lady Elaine
Stritch who had originated the role of Joanne on Broadway the production played for four months
(13:27):
at the Amoncin Theater at the music center in LA before going on the road to San Francisco
then Toronto George would say for eight months of my life in 1971 I had the pleasure of
working with Elaine in company it was a great time mostly due to Elaine he was in in your arms
with Donna McKeckney a dance legend herself at the old Globe Theater in San Diego oh speaking
(13:51):
of Globe he also won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor for West Side Story now George is
still awesome he is past 90 years old actually his 90th birthday bash was in 2022 he reflected on his
life during this red carpet interview and I want to play you one clip I can believe it that you are
(14:12):
90 but you look 60 so what is your secret well I don't have a secret but I just just like it with my
jeans I think maybe that's it the other thing I think about in terms of you know feeling good
and all of that is because most of my life I've exercised dancer using my whole body and
(14:34):
a day without a class wasn't a good day see that love for dance never left him and I love that he said
that so much I really do think that dance it just keeps you feeling young keeps you looking young and
just when he said that a day without class wasn't a good day I don't know dancers we can relate right
I also wanted to comment on it's it's wild to think how often dancers like him went uncredited back
(15:01):
then and still do today this is a common thing for dancers and it's amazing to me and it's got to
get rectified the choreographer's guild is a thing now for a good couple of years I know they're working
on this but it's borderline tragic and I don't say that to be hyperbolic like it is such a shame
that dancers work so hard to book a job in TV or movies and they have to go through rounds of
(15:26):
auditions and then to be on set and to be at the ready you know to have their body warm and conditioned
take after take sometimes hours in between takes just working so hard and again to go through so much
just to even get the job you know they got to go through casting and auditions and choreographers
and directors and producers all the things to not have our names mentioned at the end of the movie
(15:51):
you know in the credits is just ridiculous and it was just really fascinating to really research
Mr. Chikiris's journey and just to really see how for the love of dance and booking job after job
as really part of you know the chorus in so many movies as a dancer never getting credited
(16:12):
to all of a sudden well that sounds funny right all of a sudden it's like the overnight story
that takes years but you know all of a sudden there he is in west side story dancing in a lead role
as an actor and winning an Oscar I mean that is paying your dues that is tenacity that is working hard
and I love that he and Rita Moreno are both still with us they're looking wonderful they're in their
(16:34):
90s living legends from a golden age they still appear on talk shows together oh the last thing I'll
mention is that George is now a jewelry maker he has a hobby of making sterling silver jewelry
and he's turned it into a new occupation working as a jewelry designer for his own brand
George Chikiris collections consisting of handmade original sterling silver jewelry I mean come on
(17:00):
I love this guy he is an artist through and through always creating always evolving and just
always being awesome does that sound corny I don't care I just think it's true thanks for being here
thanks for tuning in again I'm your host Miller Daurey it's an honor to have you here and I'll see you
next time
(17:27):
you
(gentle music)
Welcome to Hey Dancer.
(00:04):
I'm your host Miller Daurey.
If you're hooked on the grind, the sweat and those unsung tales of dance.
I gotta tell you, you're in the right spot.
Today's episode is about a kid who fought his way from the shadows to the spotlight, one
step at a time.
Just take a moment to hit subscribe on YouTube.
(00:25):
If you're watching there, you can like the video, leave a comment and hit that notification
bell so you are immediately alerted when a video drops.
And hey, if you have recommendations for subjects, dancers, choreographers, for future episodes,
again, tell me below in the comments.
And if you're listening on Apple, Spotify, anywhere else, make sure you rate and review
(00:49):
and follow.
It means a lot.
It goes a long way.
Thank you so much.
Okay.
Now, let's jazz kick our way into another inspiring dance journey.
Let's get into it.
This story begins with a boy born to Greek immigrants from a Turkish village called Platiano,
(01:09):
a place he'd later describe as a mix of Greeks and Turks.
He grew up in Norwood, Ohio, one of eight kids in a tight-knit family that moved around
a lot, chasing work and new starts, singing lit up his world early on.
He'd walk home from movie musicals, crooning the tunes in his head, lost in a fantasy.
(01:34):
I knew I had a decent voice.
He once told an interviewer, though he kept it all to himself way back then.
Before settling in Long Beach, California, at age 12, he sang in a two-son boy's choir
during a brief Arizona stint, just one stop in his family's wandering years.
Once in Long Beach, he joined St. Luke's Episcopal Church Choir, a gig that happened to land
(01:59):
him his first taste of Hollywood.
See, he was a tiny figure in the back of a Catherine Hepburn movie called Song of Love,
uncredited, but that moment stuck with him.
Dance wasn't part of his life yet. He was still a choir boy with big dreams and no steps
to show for it.
Dance entered his life thanks to a friend, Joan Scanlon, who'd heard about the American
(02:25):
School of Dance on Hollywood Boulevard, a place where stars like Sid Sheree's and Leslie
Carone honed their craft.
That sparked something in him, so one morning he took a train from Long Beach to Hollywood
to watch a professional class.
Now there are no big names in this class he happened to watch, just pure movement, and it
(02:51):
hit him hard.
I saw that class and knew that's what I wanted to do.
He said years later, "School didn't really hold his interest.
He gave Long Beach City College a shot after high school, but walked away after a year.
He didn't have money or connections in the business, just a burning drive to make it
happen.
(03:11):
So for it, he took a day job as an office boy in the advertising department at the May Company
downtown.
At night, he'd head to the American School of Dance for classes.
He earned a scholarship there by staying late, locking up and cleaning the mirrors.
Sometimes after those sessions, he'd walk Hollywood Boulevard all alone at 11 p.m.
(03:34):
Passing Grownman's Chinese Theatre, Dreaming of More.
His classmates swapped stories about working on Singing in the Rain, and he felt behind.
He wasn't some child prodigy doing dance, but it didn't matter.
He was ready to hustle, working days, training nights, chasing his shot.
(03:55):
His first real break came when choreographer Eugene Loring needed dozens of male dancers
for a wild Dr. Su's movie called The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
It had a big dungeon scene with more moves than the screen actor's guild could supply.
So he auditioned, got the gig, and earned enough money to join the union.
(04:18):
That cracked the door open to more work.
He danced behind Marilyn Monroe in Diamonds are a girl's best friend from Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes.
Talk about iconic, right?
He worked alongside Debbie Reynolds in Give A Girl a Break, performed Scottish Sword Dancers
in Brigaduin, and joined the ensemble of There's No Business Like Show Business.
(04:42):
Then came White Christmas, where he joined three other dancers to frame Rosemary Clooney
during her "Sultry Number" love you didn't do right by me.
Before the film even hit theaters in October 1954, Life Magazine ran a spread, with a photo
of that quartet spotlighting their sharp moves behind Clooney.
(05:05):
Well, fans noticed him in the shot and started writing letters asking "Who's that guy?"
That buzz caught Paramount's eye.
Because of those curious fans, the studio tracked him down and offered him a contract seeing
potential in the face people were talking about.
But here's the kicker.
(05:25):
When White Christmas finally rolled out, his name still didn't appear in the credits.
He was just another unlisted dancer on screen, even with Paramount's deal in his pocket,
no billing, just a paycheck and a foot in the door.
But with the advent of television, the Hollywood movie musicals were basically coming to an
(05:47):
end.
Not a lot of work.
That shift hit him hard.
His passion was alive, but the opportunities were drying up.
Frustrated with Hollywood's fading musicals, he scraped together cash for a one-way ticket
to New York in 1958 and crashed on friends' couches.
(06:07):
Those pals had already made the leap east and knew the city's rhythm, tipping him off
that west side story, a Broadway smash, nearing its first year, was hunting for replacements
and a London cast.
On their advice he walked into the Wintergarden theatre one day, with no appointment, found
(06:28):
stage manager Ruth Mitchell and asked for a chance to audition.
I don't know how I had the guts to do it, but I did, he told an interviewer later.
Ruth handed him a script to read for Jerome Robbins, the show's brilliant director and choreographer.
Now Robbins was busy rehearsing his other project, Valais USA, across town at the Alvin
(06:51):
theatre, so she sent him there.
Over the next few days he auditioned during Robbins' lunch breaks from Valais USA, he read
for Riff, the Jets leader, then spent a week learning cool, a jazzy tense song Riff sings
to keep his gang steady.
Working it out with a pianist Robbins provided, time dragged with no word stretching his nerves
(07:17):
thin, then on his birthday, September 16th, Ruth called with the news, he'd won Riff
for the London production.
He packed his bags across the ocean and spent nearly two years commanding that stage,
belting cool, fighting shin splints from Robbins punishing choreography and studying every move
(07:40):
of Bernardo, the shark's leader across the rumble.
That grind wasn't just a paycheck, it was groundwork for a future, he couldn't yet imagine.
While he was still performing Riff in London, word spread that Westside story was heading
to the big screen, five from the London cast including him, got letters from United artists
(08:03):
inviting them to test for the film, big names like Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley were
rumored for lead, so he kind of figured his odds were super slim.
Even so, when he got a break from the show, his dad picked him up at the airport back home
and drove him to the studio lot, this time he tested for Bernardo, not Riff, under the
(08:26):
eye of Jerome Robbins.
Robbins directed the test himself pushing for precision in every move, by Sunday he was
back on a plane to London, slipping back into Riff's shoes on stage, waiting and wondering
if anything would come of it.
The uncertainty nod at him, those were some long days.
(08:48):
Finally, word arrived, he'd won, Bernardo, leader of the sharks, filming Westside story stretched
over seven months, his first real dance on camera and it wasn't all smooth, those shark
skin trousers were so tight, the one day midtake, they split right down the back, he laughed
(09:10):
it off, swapped them for black tights underneath and kept going.
Co-directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins gave them room to play, laughing through floods
keeping it raw, the America number stood out, he and the sharks girls danced on a rooftop
set, blending mombo and jazz, pushing through Robbins were lenteless drills till it felt
(09:33):
alive.
All those years in the chorus had built a foundation he could lean on every step in
grain from countless rehearsals and now he finally had the chance to take the lead.
The film wrapped and anticipation built, Westside story hit theaters to raves, critics called
it a game changer, audiences packed houses and dance fans couldn't get enough of the sharks
(09:58):
and jets, then came the Oscar buzz, nominations dropped and guess what, he is up for best supporting
actor, pitted against Hollywood heavyweights like Montgomery Clift and George C Scott, opening
night of the movie had been very big obviously but this, the Oscars was next level, he rolled
(10:21):
up to the ceremony with his co-star Rita Moreno who played Anita his on-screen love, they
had grown tight during filming, laughing through takes and stayed forever friends and then first
up the category of best supporting actor, the envelope opened and, he'd won, stunned
(10:42):
he stumbled to the stage, managing only six seconds, that's it one of the shortest speeches
ever, well that win flipped his life, contracts rolled in, lead roles followed like diamond
head with Charlton Heston, he kept dancing where he could because as we know musicals
(11:02):
in Hollywood were fading, so he popped up on variety shows dancing like on the Carol Burnett
show, Hollywood tugged him toward acting though films in Japan like flight from Asia, France
with the young girls of Roachford with Jean Kelly and was a regular face on many TV classics
from the 70s and 80s like the Partridge family Dallas fantasy island murder shoe wrote Hawaii
(11:29):
O the list goes on decades later he left handprints at Grownman's Chinese theatre right
where he'd walked as a dreamer that's him a kid who battled from choir to chorus, stage
to screen, uncredited to unforgettable, his name George Chakuris and now you know the rest
(11:50):
of the story as I always say these episodes are meant to be just you know a window into a
dance legend into their life or maybe a moment in dance history it is in no way meant to be
a full resume because that would be like two hours or something and I'm trying to keep
these you know poppin and all and all that but I do like to give a little bit in the outro
(12:12):
a little bit extra so here's a little side note for you because I am really a stickler
for not missing anything up on these episodes it's amazing all the research that goes into
it that village I mentioned in the beginning Plantiano where his parents came from well George calls
it that in his memoir and in interviews a small turkish spot with Greeks and Turks mixed
(12:37):
together but if you try googling it which I did a lot you're not going to find much it turns
out it might have been too tiny to even make the maps or maybe it was renamed after the big
Greek turkish population swap in 1923 trust me I dug deep and even the history buffs don't
have a clear pin on it still it's his story it's his family's route so because of that I
(13:02):
stuck with what he says you know Plantiano that's what it's got to be but hey if you happen
to know more tell me in the comments some things about his career I wanted to note he played
Bobby in the first national tour of Steven Saundheim's company 1971 opposite leading lady Elaine
Stritch who had originated the role of Joanne on Broadway the production played for four months
(13:27):
at the Amoncin Theater at the music center in LA before going on the road to San Francisco
then Toronto George would say for eight months of my life in 1971 I had the pleasure of
working with Elaine in company it was a great time mostly due to Elaine he was in in your arms
with Donna McKeckney a dance legend herself at the old Globe Theater in San Diego oh speaking
(13:51):
of Globe he also won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor for West Side Story now George is
still awesome he is past 90 years old actually his 90th birthday bash was in 2022 he reflected on his
life during this red carpet interview and I want to play you one clip I can believe it that you are
(14:12):
90 but you look 60 so what is your secret well I don't have a secret but I just just like it with my
jeans I think maybe that's it the other thing I think about in terms of you know feeling good
and all of that is because most of my life I've exercised dancer using my whole body and
(14:34):
a day without a class wasn't a good day see that love for dance never left him and I love that he said
that so much I really do think that dance it just keeps you feeling young keeps you looking young and
just when he said that a day without class wasn't a good day I don't know dancers we can relate right
I also wanted to comment on it's it's wild to think how often dancers like him went uncredited back
(15:01):
then and still do today this is a common thing for dancers and it's amazing to me and it's got to
get rectified the choreographer's guild is a thing now for a good couple of years I know they're working
on this but it's borderline tragic and I don't say that to be hyperbolic like it is such a shame
that dancers work so hard to book a job in TV or movies and they have to go through rounds of
(15:26):
auditions and then to be on set and to be at the ready you know to have their body warm and conditioned
take after take sometimes hours in between takes just working so hard and again to go through so much
just to even get the job you know they got to go through casting and auditions and choreographers
and directors and producers all the things to not have our names mentioned at the end of the movie
(15:51):
you know in the credits is just ridiculous and it was just really fascinating to really research
Mr. Chikiris's journey and just to really see how for the love of dance and booking job after job
as really part of you know the chorus in so many movies as a dancer never getting credited
(16:12):
to all of a sudden well that sounds funny right all of a sudden it's like the overnight story
that takes years but you know all of a sudden there he is in west side story dancing in a lead role
as an actor and winning an Oscar I mean that is paying your dues that is tenacity that is working hard
and I love that he and Rita Moreno are both still with us they're looking wonderful they're in their
(16:34):
90s living legends from a golden age they still appear on talk shows together oh the last thing I'll
mention is that George is now a jewelry maker he has a hobby of making sterling silver jewelry
and he's turned it into a new occupation working as a jewelry designer for his own brand
George Chikiris collections consisting of handmade original sterling silver jewelry I mean come on
(17:00):
I love this guy he is an artist through and through always creating always evolving and just
always being awesome does that sound corny I don't care I just think it's true thanks for being here
thanks for tuning in again I'm your host Miller Daurey it's an honor to have you here and I'll see you
next time
(17:27):
you
(gentle music)
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