George Nader

Biography

George Nader, born October 19, 1921, in Pasadena, California, entered the stage of the "Pasadena Playhouse" already during his school days. After finishing his "Bachelor in Theater Arts", Nader began his movie career with smaller supporting roles. In 1953, he played his first leading part in the 3D movie "Robot Monster". This independent production was not a critical but rather a commercial success and earned Nader a contract with Universal Studios and – a little bit later – a "Golden Globe Award" as "Most Promising Newcomer". Because of his good looks and his masculine stature Nader was primarily seen as a lover or hero, like in the war movie "Away all Boats" (1956) alongside Lex Barker.

But when roles in major movie productions became fewer and fewer, Nader appeared more frequently in TV productions. From 1958 to 1959, he played a leading part in the series "Ellery Queen", appeared in several episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and was "Shannon" in the short-lived crime series of the same name.

Nader"s movie and TV career in America came to a halt in the mid-1960s. Nader then went to Europe and made a comeback with a series of Jerry Cotton-adaptations. From 1965 to 1969, Nader played the urbane pulp-fiction hero in eight movies. But after his success as Jerry Cotton, Nader was not able sustain his career on the same level. In the mid-1970s, Nader withdrew from the movie business because of an eye injury he suffered in a severe road accident and began writing science fiction stories. In 1978, Nader once more caused a stir: His novel "Chrome", the story of two lovers in a post-nuclear world, was the first explicitly homosexual science fiction novel. George Nader died on February 4, 2002, in Los Angeles.