Background and career
George Maharis (September 1, 1928 – May 24, 2023) was an American actor, singer, and visual artist who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series Route 66. Maharis also recorded several pop music albums at the height of his fame, and later starred in the TV series The Most Deadly Game.
Maharis was born in Astoria, Queens, the third of six children born to Vasilios (later William) Mahairas and Demetra Stranis, both immigrants from Greece. He was raised in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of mid-town Manhattan. His brother Robert was a production assistant on Route 66 and became a film location manager. Maharis attended Flushing High School, where his schoolmates recognized his talent as a singer. He left before graduating and served for 18 months in the United States Marine Corps and then earned his high school diploma. He worked odd jobs while trying to launch a singing career, and appeared in musicals outside of New York City. He got his first break as an actor on the television comedy series Mister Peepers, playing a parody of Marlon Brando. He subsequently studied at the Actors Studio with Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg.
After a short stint at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Maharis returned to New York and won recognition in off-Broadway productions. In 1955, Maharis received critical acclaim for his roles in John Van Druten's play Dancing in the Chequered Shade, and Tennessee Williams' play, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. In October 1958, a critic at The New York Times described his performance in Jean Genet's Deathwatch as "correctly volatile, harsh, soft and cunning". In 1960 he performed in the first U.S. production of a work by Edward Albee, The Zoo Story. Brooks Atkinson wrote that Maharis' performance as the "overwrought yet searching intruder" was "a first-rate piece of acting". Maharis won the Performance award at the Theatre World Awards for his role in The Zoo Story. He later explained that his off-Broadway experience proved a handicap when seeking Broadway theatre roles: "Off Broadway had a stigma. It was like admitting you played the Borscht Circuit." Instead he found work in television. He appeared on Studio One, Kraft Television Theatre, Goodyear Television Playhouse and Stirling Silliphant's Naked City. In Search for Tomorrow, he played a gambler who mistreated his wife. He launched his film career with roles in William Berke's The Mugger (1958) and Otto Preminger's Exodus (1960). One assessment of his early career put him in the "tough personality" tradition of Humphrey Bogart and John Garfield. Paul Gardner said:
He was the cad who left unwed mothers in rooming houses and socked his lady friends when they irritated him ... To mothers, he was an undisciplined kid they wanted to spank — and then give a piece of chocolate. To aging debutantes, he was the ideal Fourth of July date, especially when it came time for shooting firecrackers.
Beginning in 1960, Maharis co-starred with Martin Milner in the CBS television series Route 66. His work earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Series in 1962. After appearing in 82 episodes, Maharis left the series during the third season, citing health problems, including hepatitis. He attributed his swift recovery to the fact that he did not drink. He returned to work in the spring of 1962 and filmed several shows, but complained he was being made to work excessive hours and left again. He told an interviewer: "If I keep going at the present pace, I'm a fool. Even if you have $4,000,000 in the bank, you can't buy another liver." A legal battle and harsh words followed. At first Maharis sought no other employment, but once the producers replaced him for the next season he began to book other engagements. He was scheduled to sing on The Ed Sullivan Show on June 16, 1963, until the Route 66 producers, claiming he was still under exclusive contract to them, prevented his appearance by legal action. They claimed he was feigning illness to get out of his contract. One claimed Maharis cared only about a film career and had "no regard for this company, his co-star, Marty Milner, and the 50 or 60 other people on the show". Maharis countered that they needed to learn that "There isn't any more Old Hollywood where a company can buy movie stars like pieces of meat." Maharis soon won the legal argument that his contract was void and although the Route 66 producers attempted a reconciliation, he made his first post-Route 66 television appearance on July 2, 1963. After Maharis' departure, the show's appeal declined. Glenn Corbett acted in the role of Milner's new sidekick, Linc Case. Route 66 was canceled in March 1964. In November 1963, Maharis described his work on Route 66:
Some actors wouldn't touch a series, but they're just like summer stock. A show a week jazz. The series taught how to maintain my integrity and not get sucked in by compromise. Guys wrote the show who had never seen it ... I worked with two-and-a-half years of directors but only five had talent. Usually they'd stick a camera in front of you and expect you to recite. You have to fight for your standards. Then what happens? They call you difficult. But that shouldn't make any difference. In the last analysis, it's your own standards, your own belief that you are doing something good, that sells a show.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
