George Montgomery

 George Montgomery, born George Montgomery Letz (August 29, 1916 – December 12, 2000)

He boxed as a heavyweight for a short while before enrolling in the University of Montana in Missoula. He was active in school athletics and majored in interior design, but he left after one year. Montgomery was more interested in a career in film than in a college education. Therefore, he left Montana for Hollywood. Two days after his arrival there, he was working as a stunt man on a Greta Garbo film at MGM, Conquest (1937). At Republic Pictures, his cowboy skills gained him stunt work and a small acting part at the age of 18 in a 1935 Gene Autry film, The Singing Vagabond. In 1939, he signed with 20th Century Fox, which billed him as George Montgomery. His first film at the studio was The Cisco Kid and the Lady (1939), the first of the Cisco Kid series. Montgomery was billed fourth. He had a small role in Star Dust (1940), and a bigger one in Young People (1940), Shirley Temple's last film for Fox. Montgomery was announced for several films originally intended for Fox leading men Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda, who had joined the army, including Down the Sea to the Ships and Bird of Paradise with Gene Tierney. However, Montgomery wound up joining the Air Force in 1943. He returned to Fox in 1946, and played the lead in a musical Three Little Girls in Blue (1946). In total, his film career spans some 90+ movies and many television programs, including staring in the Cimarron City TV series. He was a talented artist who created sculptures of other stars, including John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. He was a gifted painter and is also known for his designer furniture that he made mostly for famous friends.

Montgomery was married to Dinah Shore from 1943 until their divorce in 1963, they had one daughter and adopted a son. In 1963, a private life episode would make headlines and stun the Hollywood movie community. His housekeeper attempted to kill him in a fit of jealousy, her plan was to shoot the actor then kill herself. Upon her arrest, police discovered a rambling suicide note in her pocket. Montgomery died on December 12, 2000 at age 84. He was cremated and the ashes divided and interred at Highland Cemetery in Great Falls, Montana, near his birthplace, and Forest Lawn in Cathedral City, California, near his home.