Maharis was one of seven children born to Greek immigrants in Astoria, Queens. He attended Flushing High School and served in the United States Marine Corps for 18 months. He studied at the Actors Studio and appeared in off-Broadway productions of Jean Genet's Deathwatch and Edward Albee's The Zoo Story. He appeared on Studio One, Kraft Television Theater, Goodyear Television Playhouse, Stirling Silliphant's Naked City and Otto Preminger's Exodus, and in the soap operaSearch for Tomorrow as Bud Gardner, one of Joanne Gardner's relatives who married Janet Bergman Collins.
''Route 66''
In 1960, Maharis appeared as Buz Murdock in the TV series Route 66, which co-starred Martin Milner. Maharis was 32 at the time the series started, although the character he was playing was only 23. He received an Emmy nomination in 1962 for his continuing performance as Buz. Maharis departed without completing his third season of the series, which saw him with health problems, including hepatitis. Maharis said he left Route 66 for health reasons, due to long hours and grueling conditions while shooting on location. "I have to protect my future", Maharis said in a 1963 interview. "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." Series producers Stirling Silliphant and Herbert B. Leonard said that Maharis desired to break his contract and make movies. After Maharis' departure, the show's appeal declined. Glenn Corbett acted in the role of Milner's new sidekick, Linc Case. A year later Route 66 was canceled.
Later career
For Maharis, a string of films followed, including Quick, Before It Melts, The Satan Bug and Sylvia, A Covenant With Death and The Happening, and The Desperados. Returning to series television in 1970, Maharis starred as criminologist Jonathan Croft in The Most Deadly Game. The series lasted 12 episodes, ending in January 1971. He modeled fully nude for the July 1973 issue of Playgirl magazine as one of the first celebrities to do so. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Maharis guest-starred in many television series, including , Fantasy Island, Kojak, McMillan & Wife, Barnaby Jones, Police Story, Switch, Cannon, Night Gallery, and The Bionic Woman, as well as Murder, She Wrote in 1990. He appeared as Count Machelli, King Cromwell's War Chancellor in The Sword and the Sorcerer. He also starred with the Kenley Players in productions of Barefoot in the Park and How the Other Half Lives and in national touring company productions of Company and I Ought to Be in Pictures. In the 1980s, he performed in Las Vegas. Doppelganger was his last motion picture role.
Filmography
Art and music
Maharis released albums and singles through Epic Records earlier in his career. His only top-40 pop hit was his version of the standard "Teach Me Tonight", which hit number 25 in June 1962, although several other singles charted below the top 40. Later, he performed in nightclubs and pursued a secondary career as an impressionist painter. As of 2008, Maharis was still painting, splitting his time between New York and Beverly Hills.
Discography
Albums
;Original releases
1962 – George Maharis Sings! – Epic LN 24001/BN 26001
1962 – Portrait in Music – Epic LN 24021/BN 26021
1963 – Just Turn Me Loose! – Epic LN 24037/BN 26037
1963 – Where Can You Go For a Broken Heart? – Epic LN 24064/BN 26064
