George Backus

Biography

George Backus entered the world on 15 June 1857 in Columbus, Ohio, and spent the next eight decades turning stages and screens into his personal playground. Audiences of the late-teens silent era still remember his shadow-lit intensity in The Third Degree and The Gamblers, both released in 1919, as well as his patriotic turn in the 1917 National Red Cross Pageant. Off-camera, he shared his life with actress Louise Salather. The curtain finally fell on 22 May 1939 at his Merrick, Long Island, home, but the flicker of his performances keeps spinning through projectors and memories alike.