George S. Irving

George S. Irving (born Irving Shelasky; November 1, 1922 – December 26, 2016) was an American actor known primarily for his character roles on Broadway and as the voice of Heat Miser in the American Christmas television specials beginning with The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974).
Early life
He was born Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Abraham and Rebecca Shelasky, as one of four siblings. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants.
When Irving was 13 or 14, he sang in synagogues and churches as a boy soprano. By his final high school year in 1940, he heard about a dramatic school in Boston for those who were not quite draft age and who were tall and had deep voices, so he immediately received a scholarship. In 1942, he worked in the chorus of the St. Louis Muny Opera.
Career
On stage
Irving made his debut in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma!, only to be drafted days later to serve in the United States Army in World War II. He received this role when one of the original actors lost his voice, and Irving went on as his replacement. He explains the following: "I wrote to The Theatre Guild when they were casting Oklahoma! and asked them to remind Oscar Hammerstein that he knew me a little, and I got an audition and was cast in the chorus".
Irving is best known to Broadway audiences for his performance with Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell (successively) in Irene (1974), and his Tony nominated performance as Sir John in Me and My Girl (1987). At the 27th Tony Awards, he won the Tony for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for "Irene".
In 2008, Irving recreated the three roles he originally played in the ill-fated 1976 Joseph Stein musical So Long, 174th Street, now reworked, revised, and with its original title Enter Laughing at Off-Broadway's York Theatre Company, and received rave reviews for his rendition of "The Butler's Song". Irving performed his one-man cabaret show to great acclaim at Feinstein's in New York City in November 2008. On December 8, 2008, aged 86, Irving received the 17th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Productions
Oklahoma! (1943)
Call Me Mister (1946)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949)
Two's Company (1952)
Can-Can (1953)
Me and Juliet (1953)
Bells Are Ringing (1956)
Shinbone Alley (1957)
Irma La Douce (1960)
Bravo Giovanni (1962)
Romulus (1962)
Tovarich (1963)
Anya (1965)
The Happy Time (1968)
Promenade (off-Broadway; 1969)
An Evening with Richard Nixon and... (1972)
Irene (1973 revival)
So Long, 174th Street (1976)
Once in a Lifetime (1978 revival)
I Remember Mama (1979)
The Pirates of Penzance (1981 revival)
Copperfield (1981)
On Your Toes (1983 revival)
Me and My Girl (1986)
Busker Alley (2005)
A Wonderful Life (2005)
Voice acting career
One of his more prominent non-Broadway roles was a voice-over for The Year Without a Santa Claus, in which he played the embittered Heat Miser opposite Dick Shawn's Snow Miser. He did another voice-over for Rankin-Bass as Mister Geppetto in Pinocchio's Christmas and was the narrator of the animated cartoon series Underdog as well as the voice of Running Board on Go Go Gophers. He also voiced Captain Contagious in Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure. Irving also narrated the popular Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Audio Books.
Irving returned to television in 2008 after an absence of more than a decade to reprise his role as Heat Miser in A Miser Brothers' Christmas, a sequel to The Year Without a Santa Claus, which premiered on December 13, 2008, on cable's ABC Family (now Freeform). The show served as the network's first original animated special. The production was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children by the Los Angeles Chapter of the International Animated Film Society.
Television
Irving was familiar to television audiences of the 1970s as a result of his memorable guest-starring appearance on All in the Family as Russ DeKuyper, the loudmouthed husband of Edith Bunker's cousin Amelia. He was also a regular in the cast of the short-lived 1976 sitcom The Dumplings. Irving also did some work in commercials for White Owl Cigars in the early 1970s. He appeared as a memorable Baron Mirko Zeta in the New York City Opera production of Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow, broadcast live in 1996 from the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; during the intermission he talked about the operetta's history and historical inspiration.
Personal life
Irving was married to Maria Karnilova from 1948 until her death in 2001. They had a son, Alexander (of Oceanside, California); a daughter, Katherine Irving (of South Salem, New York), and three grandchildren.
Death
Irving died in Manhattan of heart failure on December 26, 2016, at the age of 94. At this age, he had been the last surviving cast member of Underdog.
Filmography
Up the Sandbox (1972) - Dr. Keglin
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) - Heat Miser (voice)
Fore Play (1975) - Reverend/Roberto
Deadly Hero (1975) - Reilly
Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977) - The Captain (voice)
Pinocchio's Christmas (1980) - Geppetto (voice)
A Miser Brothers' Christmas (2008) - Heat Miser (voice)
Television
Underdog - 124 episodes - (1964-1967) - Narrator / Tap Tap the Chizzler / several Characters (voice)
Go Go Gophers - 48 episodes (1964-1966) - Running Board / Several Characters (voice)
Klondkie Kat - 26 episodes (1966-1967) - Major Minor / Several Characters (voice)
All in the Family - episode - Amelia's Divorce (1975) - Russell DeKuyper
Family - episode - From Russia With Love (1979) - Alexei Tomaszevski
References
External links
TonyAwards.com Interview with George S. Irving
1922 births
2016 deaths
American male stage actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male voice actors
Drama Desk Award winners
Tony Award winners
Actors from Springfield, Massachusetts
American male television actors
American male film actors
Jewish American male actors
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Male actors from Massachusetts
United States Army personnel of World War II
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
21st-century American Jews