John George

Who was John George?

John George was a dwarf actor who appeared in at least 130 movies from 1916 to 1960. George worked in films of all genres alongside countless stars although often for only the briefest of appearances.

Born in Syria, as Tufei Filthela, George may have begun his career in the Joseph De Grasse movie Bobbie of the Ballet as an uncredited "tennament dweller". George may have even appeared earlier than that in the 1915 serial The Broken Coin unbilled, as an actor who strongly favors him appears in a still photo from the chapter play with Francis Ford and Grace Cunard in Daniel Blum's Pictorial History of the Silent Screen.

George went on to appear in Rex Ingram's Gothic melodrama Black Orchids as a character named Ali Bara. George worked in dozens of movies for Rex Ingram until 1926 when Ingram, tired of George's gambling, sent him home on a bus.

George became a regular in several films with Lon Chaney both at Universal Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He also appeared in the Warner Brothers production Don Juan opposite John Barrymore, where he was the cruel dwarf Castle Keeper/Informer who delighted in exposing to Don Jose the infidelities of his wife with another man.