George Maharis, Emmy-Nominated Star of Route 66, Dead at 94
Route 66 actor George Maharis has died. He was 94 years old.
The news of his passing was confirmed in a Facebook post by his friend, Marc Bahan. “My dear friend, you’ll be terribly missed,” he wrote. Bahan called Maharis a “great guy” who would “do anything for anyone.”
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A cause of death was not disclosed.
Maharis is best known for playing Buz Murdock opposite Martin Milner in Route 66. The CBS drama ran four seasons, between 1960 and 1964, and followed the adventures of two young drifters as they traversed the country in a corvette and explored changing social mores.
Maharis’ portrayal of Buz earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) in 1962.
During his decades-long career, Maharis appeared in numerous other television series. Between 1978 and 1982, he appeared in six episodes of ABC’s Fantasy Island, portraying multiple different characters. He also had roles in numerous episodes of The Bionic Woman, The Most Deadly Game, Search for Tomorrow and Murder, She Wrote, among others.
On the big screen, Maharis portrayed Yaov in Exodus (1960), Lee Barrett in The Satan Bug (1965) and Taurus in The Happening (1967).
He last appeared in the 1993 film Doppelg?nger, opposite Drew Barrymore, George Newbern and Dennis Christopher.
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