I couldnt help thinking it might have been me, Hamilton wistfully wrote in his 2008 memoir, Dont Mind If I Do. Or, at any rate, he became who he was feigning to be. Memphis-born George Stevens Hamilton, 51, arrived in Hollywood at age 19 with a state acting award from Florida. With immunity, he cannot be prosecuted for any wrongdoing but must tell the truth or face perjury charges. October 9, 1990 LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda allegedly funneled $12 million out of the country through actor George Hamilton, a newspaper reported today. Early on, he cashed in on his nickname, The Tanned One, with the George Hamilton Sun Care System during the late 1980s that at one point was sold exclusively at Neiman Marcus. The movie was not widely seen, and Hamilton's performance received some praise. Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos with U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson while sporting her iconic bouffant hairstyle, 1966. Shed initiated it when George was living in Manhattan for a stretch as a preteen with his father, by then working as a high-ranking executive at Elizabeth Arden. When the show was canceled in January 1970, Hamilton went into Paris 7000 (1970). More recently, Hamilton has been increasingly prominent as an entrepreneur in the tanning and skin care business, marketing his own line of cosmetics and colognes. Furthermore, the funds had been converted from Philippine pesos into U.S. dollars by siphoning hard currency away from the vital dollar reserves of the government-owned Philippine National Oil Co. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. But a committee of the U.S. Congress investigating the flight of billions of dollars from the Philippines prior to Marcos's ouster said it has no plans to investigate the financial transactions surrounding Hamilton's estate. Suspected burglar inside New Brunswick home was a panicked deer. In 2019, Hamilton said he was romantically unattached, but does enjoy dating different ladies. He would not knowingly participate in any transaction that has any taint.. Yet as a peddler, his most prominent pop culture moment has been his big-budget commercial turns as the KFC Colonel, appearing on a branded yacht cruising through crystal-clear skies, talking up a double-breaded chicken sandwich thats extra-crispy, like me. (Hamilton says he dug deep on the role, recalling meeting Colonel Harland Sanders when the two crossed paths while both were handling respective press duties at an Ohio radio station four decades ago.). Although shot in 1958 it was not released until the following year. In a voice choked with emotion, Hamilton described his brothers long and futile battle with kidney and liver disease and said that Mrs. Marcos invited his despondent mother, Ann Hamilton, to visit the Philippines after his death. We already had changed the locks, one official said. The joke being on me, says George, smiling. For United Artists, he supported Lana Turner in thr melodrama By Love Possessed (1961). Baskin-Robbins adds a hint of waffle, and voila, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Best coffee city in the world? Hed always be very warm and outgoing, Stewart remembers, adding: I dont think he understood that its the guests who were supposed to talk on the talk show., Then again, Hamilton does have more stories than most. Hamilton walked out of the jungle on November 30, 2009, telling the other contestants that he wasn't there to win but to have fun. Documents show he returned $5.5 million to Tantocos account at the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank on Nov. 22, 1983. He guest-starred on episodes of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre and Burke's Law. Floirendo, who said in a sworn affidavit obtained by The Times that Mrs. Marcos directed him to lend money to Hamilton, was a Philippine sugar and banana magnate who owed his fortune to Marcos-assisted business deals. Now, one of those prominent friendships, with deposed Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos, has put Hamilton in the middle of global legal disputes, precipitated threats against his life and made his former Beverly Hills mansion the object of a Manila government effort to recover some fraction of the billions of dollars stolen from its national treasury during the Marcos regime. Floirendos first loan to Hamilton, made in April, 1982, at the request of Mrs. Marcos, was $600,000, he said. Hamilton undertook an extensive remodeling of the home, which was built by Charlie Chaplin. [27] In 2016 and 2018, Hamilton appeared as the "Crispy Colonel" in commercials for KFC, playing on his image for tanning. But it was the couples appearance at the 1966 Oscars that really got tongues wagging. U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan said in his Monday order that prosecutors sought immunity because Hamilton had indicated he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions that might incriminate him. You become a custodian, arriving home at night and seeing 15 people for dinner and thinking, What am I doing? Later, when Hamilton married model-actress Alana Stewart and sold the place, Teeny and Bill sued him for financial support, arguing that his subsidizing of their lifestyle had, in effect, saved his life by precluding him from serving in Vietnam. Kentucky man stops for breakfast, wins $50,000 lottery prize. It was all above board.. The inquiry, whose machinations became public only five years ago, turned up nothing that could potentially be weaponized except that Bill was gay. That loan was made just two months after Hamilton was among guests at a Philippine extravaganza--the First Manila International Film Festival. Hamilton, who played a vampire in the movie comedy Love at First Bite, is a friend of the former Philippine first lady. A decade ago, he talked in swashbuckling terms about an affair with his stepmother, June Howard, a onetime singer in his fathers big band. Hamilton lobbied hard for the role of the Italian husband in Light in the Piazza (1962), with Olivia de Havilland. Latinx Files: In praise of Jenna Ortega, Aubrey Plaza and moody, deadpan Latinas, Jaguars, narcos, illegal loggers: One mans battle to save a jungle and Maya ruins, CPAC shows the GOP has deep divisions heading into 2024, Abortion clinics crossing state borders not always welcome, Black Vietnam veteran awarded Medal of Honor after decades-long wait, Toxic forever chemicals about to get their first U.S. limits, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids. 88". He wanted stars around him. He appeared in the TV movie The Last of the Powerseekers (1973), and had a supporting role in The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, starring Burt Reynolds (1973). Alana swapped with Angela "Big Ang" Raiola of Mob Wives and her husband Neil Murphy. He returned to MGM to make Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! Interviews, testimony and court records--some of which were part of the massive evidence introduced in the New York case--also cast new light on the long-acknowledged relationship between the actor and Madam Marcos. U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan said in his Monday order that prosecutors sought immunity because Hamilton had indicated he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions that might incriminate him. He had been in the 1975 episode "A Deadly State of Mind". On another day, reclining on the cream sofa in the Wilshire Corridor high-rise condo where hes lived since 2008, his untucked dress shirt unbuttoned halfway to his navel, Hamilton is expansive. However, investigators have discovered that the money eventually wound up back in the Marcoses control outside the Philippines. in November 2009. 13,816, 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Best coffee city in the world? His height is 1.85 m tall, and weight is 70 kg. He supported Elizabeth Taylor in Poker Alice (1987). Overdue book returned to Massachusetts library after 56 years. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. [13] However, Drew Carey was named as Barker's successor. Heiress Doris Duke posted the bail for Marcos and actor George Hamilton . [22][23] A cigar lounge bearing his name was opened in the late 1990s at the New York, New York, hotel in Las Vegas and other locations, along with a line of cigars bearing the actor's name. Beatty's political satire Bulworth (1998) contained a running gag, with Hamilton'appearing as himself Hamilton had a regular role on the TV series Jenny (1997). Hamilton moved into producing to give himself greater control over his career. Immediately after Hamilton returned the money, it was transferred again, across town, to another Tantoco account at Hong Kongs Wardley Bank Ltd. A week later, the $5.5 million was transferred to Londons National Westminster Bank into the account of Jorge Ramos, a Filipino architect Mrs. Marcos hired to refurbish her secretly owned Lindenmere estate on Long Island and other properties in the United States. While the actor insists his relationship with Lyndon Johnson was warm, recalling intimate family gatherings as well as a watch the commander in chief gifted him, behind the scenes there was trouble. In 1979, he appeared in the surprise hit Love at First Bite, in which he showed a flair for comedy; it was the story of Count Dracula's pursuit of a young Manhattanite model, played by Susan Saint James. A lot of young actors do it and they shouldnt. He soaked it up. Its not depression, he says. However, as more than a few reporters were quick to point out, his mothers fourth husband was an heir to the Spalding sporting goods fortune, and she lived in high style in Beverly Hills, with a butler, cook, and gardener at her beck and call. At the time, according to one page from a Malacanang Palace ledger obtained by federal investigators, the $5.5 million was entered as money ultimately controlled by the Marcoses private financial manager, Manila bank president Rolando Gapud. It was in this transaction that the seeds of the Philippine governments successful claim to the 13,436-square-foot Beverly Hills house were sown. That was further illustrated by the contents of a letter found among the once-sealed court records. Reynolds wrote that he made up a birthday card for Hamilton with a composite photograph of Tony Curtis and Anthony Perkins, titled "To George, love from Mum and Dad". . Ramos told them he turned it over to two swarthy men--presumably Filipinos. He said he acted on instructions from Mrs. Tantoco, the agent for Mrs. Marcos. [3][4], Hamilton attended the Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York, graduating in 1957.[5]. I just knew him as an amazing character and never did any form of business of any kind with Adnan, explains Hamilton. Although the money went to Hamilton from Mrs. Tantocos account, prosecutor LaBella said it was really a transaction involving Imelda Marcos. According to the late nationally syndicated gossip columnist Sheila Graham, [Hamilton] was determined to see Lynda and still maintain his bachelor status, which he had declared was an actors lifeblood.. Maybe he was a tool for someone, an innocent, said Arthur N. Greenberg, Hamiltons attorney. Awards Chatter Podcast Malala Yousafzai (Stranger at the Gate), Report: Feds Grilled Leonardo DiCaprio on Business Relationship With International Fugitive Fraudster, Need a Black Hawk on Set by Friday? It had minimal commercial or critical impact. It turned out to be a stroke of genius for the publicity-hungry Hamilton, who found himself in the headlines and gossip pages. Can religion save us from Artificial Intelligence? National Park Service: 'Never push a slower friend down' in a bear encounter, March 2 (UPI) -- The National Park Service offered some sage advice for park visitors who encounter bears: "Never push a slower friend down. They had a very close relationship, Bernstein said in an interview. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. Luckily, they were unscathed. Sitemap, Your California Privacy Rights The former matinee idol was always more well-known for his famous friends than his on-screen appearances. In August 2008, Hamilton co-starred in Coma, a web series on Crackle. The actor also received a $6 million loan - $4 million of which was secured by Hamiltons lavish estate in Benedict Canyon - from Antonio O. Floirendo, a Marcos confidante, the documents show. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Some of the Marcos money could have been invested in that enterprise, investigators said. Johnson.[29]. In 2015 George and his ex-wife, Alana Hamilton appeared in Season 4/Episode 10 of Celebrity Wife Swap. The actor, recently featured on the television program Dynasty, also denied rumors linking him romantically with the former Philippine first lady, Imelda Marcos. Marketed as a secret formula, it included a self-tanning exfoliating scrub and bronzer. March 3 (UPI) -- A New Brunswick couple who initially thought a burglar had broken into their home discovered the invader was actually a panicked deer. Hes an active producer. As for why he consorted with the Marcoses in the first place, given that Ferdinand had placed the country under martial law a decade earlier, he claims he was naive at the time of what he chalks up to broadly as unrest in the country., Hamiltons at his most forthright when describing the emotional bond he shares with his loved ones, such as ex-wife Stewart. The president, he says, was always a performer in his own mind like Hamilton himself. 50,062, This story has been shared 18,198 times. New York Times October 7, 1966: 38. Los Angeles, A $150,000 executive protection dog? He did Two Fathers: Justice for the Innocent (1994), Vanished (1995), and Playback (1996); and guest-starred on the shows Bonnie, Hart to Hart, and The Guilt. Hamilton has acknowledged publicly and privately that he received things of value from Mrs. Marcos, from free trips to Morocco and Europe to the use of Filipino laborers sent to help remodel his house to a white Rolls-Royce for his mother. Photo by 9EkieraM1 CC BY-SA 3.0. He was in Meet Wally Sparks (1997), 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997), and the miniseries Rough Riders (1997), where he portrayed William Randolph Hearst. Attorney Greenberg said he had no comment on Bernsteins assertions, but later declared: You have to understand George. Hamilton had an excellent part in The Victors (1963), an anti-war drama from Carl Foreman. Hamilton's first roles were in TV. Hamilton hit it off with the Johnsons eldest daughter, a student at George Washington University, who appeared to be the brainy type and, quite possibly, a challenge. As he embarks on his ninth decade he turns 80 on Aug. 12 the actor and avatar of ease knows that his hue is what has made him an icon. Its not just you, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Column: A transgender patients lawsuit against Kaiser is a front for the conservative war on LGBTQ rights. On the Texas set of Hamiltons 1960 breakout, Vincente Minnellis Home From the Hill, a boy asked co-star George Peppard if Peppard was a movie star. In December, 1975, Cosmopolitan magazine named Imelda Marcos, the First Lady of the Phillippines, as one of the ten richest women in the world.It even went a step further and speculated that Imelda was perhaps the richest woman in the world, richer than Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.. Everyone knew Imelda was rich; she made sure of that. After getting the Floirendo loan, Hamilton began an extensive remodeling project that included adding a large garage and about 2,000 square feet of living space to the mansion. This was something that several months ago he was told he would have to have, his rep told E! Khashoggi assumed the $4-million Krodo loan, and he has acknowledged acting at the behest of the Marcoses. Their son, Ashley George, was born in 1974. In 2011 Hamilton did undergo treatment to have a skin cancer growth removed. He did not explain in his testimony how or why his project could be so drastically transformed against his wishes. In truth, LBJs disapproval didnt bother Hamilton, who wasnt exactly looking for a life partner. I think its unfair to the voter. (Still, this belief didnt stop him from discussing gun rights on a 2016 Fox & Friends appearance to announce his new gig as KFCs Extra Crispy Colonel.). . [30][31] In December 1999, Kimberly gave birth to their son, George Thomas Hamilton (nicknamed "GT"[32] or George Jr.). In a previously sealed court deposition, Hamilton testified he received the money from associates of the Marcoses, that he paid it back and that he did not know the funds were linked to the couple, the Times reported. George Hamilton still acts for the past few seasons as Spencer Blitz on ABCs American Housewife. This story has been shared 60,063 times. Hamilton, who has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case, could testify as early as this afternoon. Hamiltons draft deferment had in fact been granted on the grounds that he was the sole financial provider for Teeny which prompted an outcry when the public learned he was dating Lynda Bird Johnson in 1966. Earlier this year, in out-of-court settlements jointly negotiated with New York federal prosecutors, the Philippines took over a $30-million Beverly Hills bank formerly controlled by the Marcoses and numerous art works valued at about $10 million. New York Times ] October 29, 1966: 1. Things would come up in meetings and shed turn to (Hamilton) and ask what he thought about this or that. Minnesota officer removes jar from raccoon's head. Theyve remained friends. There were no hard feelings, though. Los Angeles County records show that in April 1982 Hamilton purchased the property, owned originally by Charlie Chaplin, from a woman named Joy Bright for $1.2 million. Imelda Marcos married politician Ferdinand Marcos in 1954. The Method-trained thespian replied that, actually, he was an actor. Theyre given an unusual amount of credibility, he says. It was a hit and remains one of his better known movies. That image has been reinforced over the years by a lavish lifestyle and decades of noted romances with rich and famous women. He is the eldest son of Ann Stevens and bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton. Everybody has to be real, he says, spitting the word. But Hamiltons attorney said that the actor thought he was dealing only with Khashoggi, Floirendo and their agents. Marcoswho was famous for her high-flying lifestyle, endless socializing, and taste for designer clothesspent more than two decades as the First Lady of the Philippines, during which time she. Imelda Romualdez-Marcos with former President Ferdinand Marcos and family during the 1965 inauguration It was during the 1965 campaign that Imelda became influential as a political figure at the national level, supporting her husband's political tactics through her charismatic appeal and youth. News at the time. He says he hasnt voted in his life and believes its irresponsible for actors, who have no qualifications, to express opinions on such matters. Hamilton, 51, has acknowledged publicly that he received many gifts from Mrs. Marcos, who he met in 1979 while visiting Manila to promote a movie. Hamilton was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on August 12, 2009. Its the actual plug-in to the sun that I feel when Im in it. During a Manila stop, he was invited to lunch at Malacanang Palace, where he also was a hit. An aide to Sen. Stephen Solarz, D-N.Y., who heads the congressional investigation, said the fact that an agent representing Calno Holdings is a close friend of Marcos 'certainly implies that Marcos was involved.'. Philippine journalist Kristina M. Luz contributed to this story. Actor George Hamilton said Imelda Marcos saved his mother's life by inviting the despondent woman to the Philippines after Hamilton's brother died. Hamilton, who has made such movies as 'Love at First Bite,' was often seen at parties thrown by the Marcoses and appears in some of the hundreds of home video tapes found after the Marcoses fled the presidential palace. (The lauded French director Louis Malle, who cast him for 1965s Viva Maria!, once sighed, Hes more interested in being in the social columns I dont understand when he should be one of the greatest of his generation.). And then we started talking about the real theme of the film. For three decades, actor George Hamiltons associations with the rich and famous women of the world--from Lynda Bird Johnson to Vanessa Redgrave and Elizabeth Taylor--have landed his name in the pages of international glamour and gossip magazines. He almost immediately landed the lead in a low-budget film, Crime and Punishment, U.S.A. MGM put him under contract. He brought the then-22-year-old presidential daughter to the Academy Awards that year. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. NEW YORK -- Actor George Hamilton, reportedly an unindicted co-conspirator in the Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos fraud case, said Monday he was just a friend of the couple and 'there was. While serving as the First Lady of the Philippines, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Cultural Center of the Philippines . [21], In the late 1980s, Hamilton launched the George Hamilton Skin Care System and the George Hamilton Sun Care System and tanning salons. But he does relish how, once upon a time in Hollywood, contrivance was an inalienable right. With his matinee-idol looks, it was sometimes noted that Hamilton physically resembled Warren Beatty. HAMILTON TELLS OF BUSY CAREER: But Sought-After Actor Is Silent on Role as Suitor By VINCENT CANBY. Work phones make a comeback as offices ban WhatsApp, TikTok, Stocks jump as Wall Street cruises to best day since January, Car debt piles up as more Americans owe thousands more than vehicles are worth, Chicken-flavored ice cream? Now one of the last remaining products of the old studio system still actively working, he offers a singular perspective on a transforming industry.