George Hamilton – Bio, Net Worth, Children, Ex-Wife, Why is He Looking So Tan?

Quick Facts

George Hamilton has graced our screens since the 50s and has built up a tremendous fan base all over with his over 120 film credits. In his acting career, his character portrayals have proven his versatility. This is because he has played everything from the local superhero Zorro to the progenitor of the vampire race Count Dracula.

Since the inception of his career, he has racked up some really impressive movies in his acting portfolio; movies and television films like By Love Possessed (1961); Love at First Bite (1979); Dynasty (1985 – 1986); The Godfather Part III (1990); The Congressman (2016) come to mind. Naturally, the actor cum producer has received numerous nominations and awards from organizations like BAFTA and the Golden Globe Awards.

George Hamilton’s Bio

Hamilton’s story begins in Memphis, Tennessee where he was born on August 12, 1939, to his parents George “Spike” Hamilton and Ann Stevens. While nothing is known about his mother, his father, George, was the frontman for a popular band housed in Los Angeles, at the Biltmore Hotel. He was also an actor in the 30s and a perfumer.

George spent his growing years in Blytheville, Arkansas. At this time, his father had remarried to a woman named June Howard. George would reveal in his later years that he had affair an with his stepmother when he was just 12 years old. Hamilton finished his high school education in 1957 at Hackley School after living in many states and attending several high schools due to the nature of his father’s work.

With nothing but hopes and dreams, George Hamilton packed up himself and moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s to kickstart a career as an actor. Like many before him, he started out with guest appearances on a number of television shows. These included The Donna Reed Show and The Adventures of Rin Tin. He also appeared in the 1959 feature film Crime & Punishment USA, a movie for which he clinched a Golden Globe Award as the “Best Promising Actor”. His involvement in the movie led to him signing a long-term contract with the then movie giant Metro Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

In the 1960s, George was a busy man as his career saw him make films in the US and in several countries in Europe. They included movies like Where The Boys Are (1960); By Love Possessed (1961); That Man George (1965); A Time For Killing (1967); and The Power (1968). By the time the 60s came to a close, he had appeared in over 20 projects. He had also worked with the likes of Vanessa Redgrave, Natalie Wood, Glenn Ford, and Robert Wagner.

By the late 60s and 70s, George Hamilton’s strong start to his career started to slowly trickle down. He appeared in only a few movies and tv projects like The Survivors (1969 – 1970); The Last of the Powerseekers (1973); The Dead Don’t Die (1975); Evel Knievel (1971); and Medusa (1973). He rounded up the 1970s with his biggest commercial success yet in Love at First Bite (1979). This was his third project as a producer after Evel Knievel and Medusa. He followed this up by producing another movie Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981). Although relatively successful, it didn’t live up to the standards that Love at First Bite had set.

The 80s saw him devote his time almost exclusively to television. Hamilton was on a slew of television appearances including Malibu (1983), Dynasty (1985 – 1986), Two Father’s Justice (1985), Spies (1987), Monte Carlo (1986), and Poker Alice (1987).

He started the 90s with another opportunity to revive his career when he played Don Corleone’s family lawyer in the third installment of the Godfather franchise, The Godfather Part III. Again, however, his subsequent works didn’t match the hype of the family and crime drama. He was in Once Upon A Crime (1992), Vanished (1995), 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997), Casper Meets Wendy (1998), and She’s Too Tall (1999).

Following the turn of the millennium, the veteran actor recorded three more production credits: My One and Only (2009), The Last Resort (2011) and Being Evel (2015). He was on television in A Very Cool Christmas (2004); Holiday Road Trip (2013); American Housewife (2017 – 2018); General Hospital (2018).

George Hamilton also served as host of ABC’s tv series The Family in 2003 and was a competitor on Dancing with the Stars in 2006. In 1999 and 2009, he received his own star on the California Walk of Stars in Palm Springs, and on the Hollywood Walk of Fame respectively.

What is his Net Worth?

When comparing his career’s trajectory with that of his contemporaries, one could make a case for the fact that the veteran actor’s time on the big screen has not gone the way most had hoped. However, the actor isn’t fazed about it as he chose this route for himself, opting to be in more socially minded movies than box office blockbusters.

Still, with his over 120 projects on television and movies, his litany of commercial appearances, his skincare companies and his chain of tanning salons, he has no reason to complain. His net worth is evaluated at around $25 million.

Why is he Looking so Tan?

If there really such a thing as sun worshipping, the perpetually bronzed actor should be the emissary from the sun gods. He became addicted to the tanned look shortly after he moved to Florida following his time at Hackley School. Before the tan, he described himself as the joke at parties and social events as no girls wanted to talk to him. The first party he had attended after getting a tan at the beach saw three girls hit on him. He didn’t take a chance on losing the tan after that experience.

The veteran actor is known today more for his bronzed complexion than for his acting and has been on many interviews to discuss his tan. George Hamilton has revealed on a lot of these interviews that his permanent tan does not come from a spray tan bottle. He prefers to go the natural route and always spends at least 15 minutes in the sun every single day. He believes spray tanning can be linked to various skin diseases.

George Hamilton’s Family: Ex-Wife and Children

The actor who has a thing for high profile women revealed while he was on the show I’m A Celebrity that he had been in a relationship with a minimum of four Miss Worlds. In the 60s, his was in a really high profile relationship. At the time, he was dating the daughter of then-President Lyndon B. Johnson, Lynda Bird Johnson.

His marriage to his actress wife, Alana Stewart happened in 1972, however, the union ran out of steam three years later as they called it quits in 1975. They had a son together in 1974 whom they named Ashley Hamilton. Ashley makes a living as a musician, comedian, and actor.

George’s second child came almost two decades later in 1999. His name is George Thomas Hamilton. He is a result of his union with then-girlfriend Kimberly Blackford who he was with from 1997 to 1999.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.