George Gaynes was a Finnish-born American singer, actor and voice artist. Born to Dutch and Russian-Finnish parents in the Russian Empire, he served in the Royal Netherlands Navy during World War II and subsequently emigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen and began his acting career on Broadway. Gaynes' most recognized roles in cinema were that of Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series and as John Van Horn in the 1982 comedy filmTootsie. He appeared as Senator Strobe Smithers in the hit TV showHearts Afire; as the curmudgeonly but lovable foster parent Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster; as high-powered theatrical producer Arthur Feldman on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, in which Gaynes' real-life wife, Allyn Ann McLerie, co-starred as his love interest; and as Frank Smith, the mob boss brought down by Luke Spencer on the soap opera General Hospital.
Early life
Gaynes was born on May 3, 1917, in Helsinki, in what was then the Grand Duchy of Finland, part of the Russian Empire, the son of Iya Grigorievna de Gay, a Russian artist of Finnish descent, and Gerrit Jongejans, a Dutch businessman. His uncle was the actor Gregory Gaye. He was raised in France, England, and Switzerland. Gaynes graduated from the Collège Classique Cantonal near Lausanne in 1937. He also attended the Music School of Milan from 1938–39, and many years later trained at the Actors Studio in New York City from 1953–58.
In 1946, Gaynes returned to France but an American theater director offered him a role in a Broadway musical and he moved to New York City later that year and became an American citizen in 1948. During this time, his best-known appearances were in Wonderful Town and the musical version of My Sister Eileen. Gaynes alternated between stage musicals and both comedic and dramatic plays, including his role as Bob Baker in the original production of Wonderful Town, Jupiter in the Cole Porter musical Out of This World, Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, and as Henry Higgins in the 1964 U.S. tour of My Fair Lady. In television, Gaynes played the role of Henry Warnimont, the eventual foster father for Punky Brewster in the eponymous series. He also provided the voice for Henry in the animated Ruby-Spears version of the show. Behind the camera, he directed the very last episode of WKRP in Cincinnati. Films in which he appeared include The Way We Were, Nickelodeon, and Tootsie. Entering films and television in the early 1960s, Gaynes was a regular on the TV daytime dramas Search for Tomorrow and General Hospital, and showed up in such movies as The Group, Marooned, and Doctor's Wives. He appeared in one episode of the sci-fi television series Sliders as the old-aged version of Quinn Mallory, played by Jerry O'Connell. In 1984, he played Commandant Lassard, the titular leader, in the first of seven Police Academy movies. In 1994, he played Serybryalzov in Louis Malle's acclaimed independent feature, Vanya on 42nd Street.
Personal life
Gaynes was married to the stage and television actress and dancer Allyn Ann McLerie from December 20, 1953; they had two children, Matthew Gaynes and Iya Gaynes Falcone Brown. Matthew was shortlisted for the Olympic team the year that President Jimmy Carter boycotted the 1980 Olympics after the Russians invaded Afghanistan. Matthew died in a car crash in India in 1989. In addition to Gaynes joining the cast of his wife's series The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd in 1989, he and McLerie had previously worked together on Punky Brewster, when she guest starred in a first-season episode as a love interest of Henry Warnimont's. Gaynes died at his daughter's home in North Bend, Washington, on February 15, 2016, at the age of 98.
