George E. Stone

George E. Stone (born Gerschon Lichtenstein; May 18, 1903 – May 26, 1967) was a Polish-born American character actor in films, radio, and television.
Life and career
Stone was born Gerschon Lichtenstein in Łódź, Congress Poland, into a Jewish family. He sailed from the Port of Hamburg, Germany, as a steerage passenger on board the S/S President Grant, which arrived at the Port of New York on May 29, 1913; at Ellis Island, he passed federal immigrant inspection with his two sisters and a brother.
As an actor, Stone first attracted attention (as "Georgie Stone") in the 1927 silent film 7th Heaven, where he played the local street thug The Sewer Rat; audiences remembered his slight build and very expressive face. He made a successful transition to talking pictures in Warner Bros.' Tenderloin, speaking in a pleasant, slightly nasal tenor. Stone was then typecast in streetwise roles, often playing a Runyonesque mobster or a gangland boss's assistant, notably as Rico Bandello's right-hand man Otero in the gangster classic Little Caesar (1931). He adopted a dapper pencil moustache for these screen roles. One of his most famous appearances was in the classic musical 42nd Street (1933), in which wiseguy Stone assesses a promiscuous chorus girl: "She only said 'no' once, and then she didn't hear the question!" His one starring film (as George E. Stone) was the Universal Pictures gangster comedy The Big Brain (1933).
In 1939, comedy producer Hal Roach hired Stone for his film The Housekeeper's Daughter. It was a difficult role: Stone had to play a mentally impaired murderer in a sweet natured and sympathetic manner. Stone went clean-shaven, emphasizing a boyish, innocent look, and played the part so sensitively that Roach often cast him in other films. In 1942, Stone burlesqued Hirohito in Roach's wartime comedy The Devil with Hitler. Stone repeated his Japanese characterization, this time dramatically, in the 1942 film Little Tokyo, U.S.A.; he played the Japanese agent, Kingoro.
George E. Stone's most familiar role was "The Runt", loyal sidekick to adventurous ex-criminal Boston Blackie in Columbia Pictures' action-comedy series. Stone was supposed to perform with Chester Morris in the first film of the series, Meet Boston Blackie, but was sidelined by a virus. Actor Charles Wagenheim filled in for him, and Stone joined the series in the second entry, Confessions of Boston Blackie. Stone's performances in the Blackies were well received, and he enthusiastically played scenes for laughs, doing dialects, disguising in women's clothes, posing as a child, or reacting in wide-eyed amazement or frustration to each story's twists and turns. Both Chester Morris and George E. Stone reprised their screen roles for one year in the Boston Blackie radio series. Illness struck Stone again in 1948, forcing him to bow out of the last Boston Blackie picture, Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture (released in 1949); he was replaced by Sid Tomack.
Even in his smallest roles, Stone made an impression. In the 1945 newspaper-themed feature Midnight Manhunt, he plays a murder victim who doesn't say a word but expires eloquently. Another tiny role has Stone contributing to the perennial holiday favorite Miracle on 34th Street – but not in the film. He appears in the coming-attractions trailer, as an openly cynical screenwriter confronted by a bossy movie producer.
Stone made guest appearances in movies and television through the 1950s, in situation comedies (The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) and action-adventure shows (Adventures of Superman, as mob leader "Big George"). When it came to playing tough guys, Stone could be just as convincing as the biggest, brawniest men. In the feature film The Man with the Golden Arm, Stone is the vindictive mobster who has been cheated at cards, and attacks dealer Frank Sinatra's friend Arnold Stang in a brutal fistfight.
Stone's vision deteriorated in the late 1950s, limiting him to walk-on roles or undemanding character parts. He played nervous stool pigeon "Toothpick Charlie" in Billy Wilder's comedy hit Some Like It Hot, and became a TV regular in the popular Perry Mason series, appearing in 44 episodes in the minor role of the court clerk, and two additional episodes in other roles.
One of Stone's closest friends was reporter-humorist Damon Runyon. Stone often appeared in movie adaptations of Runyon's work, including the musical Guys and Dolls. In Stone's last film, Pocketful of Miracles (1961), directed by Frank Capra, he played the uncredited role of a blind beggar.
Illness and death
Throughout his career, Stone was sidelined by illness. In 1936, he had pneumonia and lost out on a film role. Later illnesses forced him to miss the first and the last of the Boston Blackie pictures. In the early 1950s he began losing his sight to the point of almost total blindness in both eyes. He told The Daily Mirror in November 1958, “To me, it meant the end of everything I’d taken for granted.” In 1958, he underwent surgery to save his sight. In fact, his sight was so limited by the time that he played the court clerk on Perry Mason that he had to be led around the set by his co-stars.
After suffering a major stroke in 1966 which left him bedridden and unable to speak, Stone spent the majority of his last year of life at the Motion Picture Country Home until he died May 26, 1967. His resting place is at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.
Recognition
For his contributions to motion pictures, Stone received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960. The star is located at 6932 Hollywood Boulevard, between North Orange Drive and North Highland Avenue, across the street from Grauman's Chinese Theatre, now known as TCL Chinese Theatre.
Selected filmography
Seventh Heaven (1927) - Sewer Rat
Brass Knuckles (1927) - Velvet Smith
San Francisco Nights (1928) - 'Flash' Hoxy
Turn Back the Hours (1928) - Limey
Tenderloin (1928) - Sparrow
The Crimson City (1928) - Slinkey
Walking Back (1928) - Crook (uncredited)
Clothes Make the Woman (1928) - Assistant Director
The Racket (1928) - Joe Scarsi
Beautiful But Dumb (1928) - Tad
State Street Sadie (1928) - Slinky
Naughty Baby (1928) - Tony Caponi
Weary River (1929) - Blackie
The Redeeming Sin (1929) - A Sewer Rat
Two Men and a Maid (1929) - Shorty
The Girl in the Glass Cage (1929) - Carlos
Melody Lane (1929) - Danny
Skin Deep (1929) - Dippy
Under a Texas Moon (1930) - Pedro
The Medicine Man (1930) - Steve
Little Caesar (1931) - Otero
Cimarron (1931) - Sol Levy
The Front Page (1931) - Earl Williams
Maid to Order (1931)
Five Star Final (1931) - Ziggie Feinstein
The Spider (1931) - Dr. Blackstone
Sob Sister (1931) - Johnnie the Sheik
The Woman from Monte Carlo (1932) - Le Duc
Taxi! (1932) - Skeets
The World and the Flesh (1932) - Rutchkin
The Last Mile (1932) - Joe Berg - Cell 1
The Phantom of Crestwood (1932) - The Cat
File 113 (1933) - Verduet
The Vampire Bat (1933) - Kringen
42nd Street (1933) - Andy Lee
Sailor Be Good (1933) - Murphy
Song of the Eagle (1933) - Gus
Emergency Call (1933) - Sammie Miller
The Wrecker (1933) - Sam Shapiro
The Big Brain (1933) - Max Werner
He Couldn't Take It (1933) - Sammy Kohn
Sing Sinner Sing (1933) - Spats
Penthouse (1933) - Murtoch
Ladies Must Love (1933) - Joey
King for a Night (1933) - Hymie
Frontier Marshal (1934) - David 'Abe' Ruskin
Viva Villa! (1934) - Emilio Chavito
Return of the Terror (1934) - Soapy McCoy
The Dragon Murder Case (1934) - Tatum
Embarrassing Moments (1934) - Louie
Secret of the Chateau (1934) - Armand
One Hour Late (1934) - Benny
Million Dollar Baby (1934) - Joe Lewis
Hold 'Em Yale (1935) - Bennie South Street
Public Hero No. 1 (1935) - Butch
Make a Million (1935) - Larkey
Moonlight on the Prairie (1935) - Small Change
Frisco Kid (1935) - Solly
Freshman Love (1936) - E. Prendergast Biddle
Man Hunt (1936) - Silk
Boulder Dam (1936) - Man Aiding Ann (uncredited)
Bullets or Ballots (1936) - Wires Kagel
Rhythm on the Range (1936) - Shorty
Anthony Adverse (1936) - Sancho
Jailbreak (1936) - Weeper
Back to Nature (1936) - Mr. Sweeney (uncredited)
Here Comes Carter (1936) - Boots Burnett
The Captain's Kid (1936) - Steve
Polo Joe (1936) - First Loafer
King of Hockey (1936) - Nick Torga
Don't Get Me Wrong (1937) - Chuck
Clothes and the Woman (1937) - Count Bernhardt
Back in Circulation (1937) - Mac
Alcatraz Island (1937) - 'Tough Tony' Burke
The Adventurous Blonde (1937) - Pete
A Slight Case of Murder (1938) - Kirk
Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938) - Connors
Over the Wall (1938) - Gyp
You and Me (1938) - Patsy
Submarine Patrol (1938) - Seaman Irving Goldfarb
Long Shot (1939) - Danny Welch
You Can't Get Away with Murder (1939) - Toad
The Housekeeper's Daughter (1939) - Benny
The Night of Nights (1939) - Sammy Kayn
I Take This Woman (1940) - Sid
Island of Doomed Men (1940) - Siggy
Cherokee Strip (1940) - Abe Gabbert
Slightly Tempted (1940) - Petey
North West Mounted Police (1940) - Johnny Pelang
The Face Behind the Mask (1941) - Dinky
Road Show (1941) - Indian
Broadway Limited (1941) - Lefty
Last of the Duanes (1941) - Euchre
Confessions of Boston Blackie (1941) - The Runt
The Lone Star Ranger (1942) - Euchre
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942) - Mousey
Alias Boston Blackie (1942) - The Runt
Little Tokyo, U.S.A. (1942) - Kingoro
Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942) - The Runt
After Midnight with Boston Blackie (1943) - The Runt
The Chance of a Lifetime (1943) - The Runt
Timber Queen (1944) - Squirrel
Roger Touhy, Gangster (1944) - 'Ice Box' Hamilton
My Buddy (1944) - Pete
One Mysterious Night (1944) - The Runt
Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion (1945) - The Runt
Scared Stiff (1945) - Mink
Boston Blackie's Rendezvous (1945) - The Runt
Midnight Manhunt (1945) - Joe Wells
Doll Face (1945) - Stage Manager
Shock (1946) - Cab Driver (uncredited)
A Close Call for Boston Blackie (1946) - The Runt
Sentimental Journey (1946) - Toy Hawker (uncredited)
The Phantom Thief (1946) - The Runt
Suspense (1946) - Max
Boston Blackie and the Law (1946) - The Runt
Abie's Irish Rose (1946) - Isaac Cohen
Daisy Kenyon (1947) - Waiter (uncredited)
Trapped by Boston Blackie (1948) - The Runt
The Untamed Breed (1948) - Pablo
Dancing in the Dark (1949) - Film Cutter (uncredited)
A Girl in Every Port (1952) - Skeezer
Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952) - Ropes McGonigle
Tonight We Sing (1953) - Impresario (uncredited)
Pickup on South Street (1953) - Willie - Police Desk Clerk (uncredited)
The Robe (1953) - Gracchus (uncredited)
Combat Squad (1953) - Medic Brown
The Miami Story (1954) - Louie Mott
Broken Lance (1954) - Paymaster (uncredited)
Woman's World (1954) - Executive Reception Guest (uncredited)
The Steel Cage (1954) - Solly, Convict Chef (segment "The Chef")
3 Ring Circus (1954) - Little Boy's Father (uncredited)
New York Confidential (1955) - Darlene's Agent (uncredited)
Guys and Dolls (1955) - Society Max
The Man With the Golden Arm (1955) - Sam Markette
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956) (Season 1 Episode 15: "The Big Switch") - Barney
The Conqueror (1956) - Sibilant Sam (uncredited)
Slightly Scarlet (1956) - Roos (uncredited)
Jungle Hell (1956) - Mr. Trosk
Sierra Stranger (1957) - Barfly Dan
Calypso Heat Wave (1957) - Books
The Tijuana Story (1957) - Pino
The Story of Mankind (1957) - Waiter
Baby Face Nelson (1957) - Mr. Hall - Bank Manager
Some Came Running (1958) - Slim (uncredited)
Night of the Quarter Moon (1959) - Detective (uncredited)
Some Like It Hot (1959) - "Toothpick" Charlie
Alias Jesse James (1959) - New York Bar Gibson Girl Fan (uncredited)
Bells Are Ringing (1960) - Blind Bookie (uncredited)
Ocean's 11 (1960) - Proprietor (uncredited)
Pocketful of Miracles (1961) - Shimkey (uncredited)
References
External links
George E. Stone at Virtual History
1903 births
1967 deaths
Actors from Łódź
Emigrants from Congress Poland to the United States
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
20th-century American male actors
Jewish American male actors
Jews from the Russian Empire
20th-century American Jews
American Ashkenazi Jews