Biography
George Chakiris is an American actor and dancer. He was born on 16 September 1932 in Norwood, Ohio.
He is best known for his role as Bernardo in the 1961 film West Side Story, for which he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Earlier in his career he appeared uncredited as a dancer in films including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), White Christmas (1954) and Brigadoon (1954). He had played Riff in the London stage production of West Side Story before being cast in the film.
Chakiris had subsequent roles in films such as The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) and guest appearances in television series including Hawaii Five-O (1969), CHiPs (1977) and Dallas. He returned to acting for the film Not to Forget (2021).
