George-Radu Metaxa (11 September 1899 – 8 December 1950) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n-born American singer, film & stage actor. He was known for his

crooning Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...

high

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the ...

voice and often portrayed genteel antagonists.

Life and career

Metaxa was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

, Romania, to Nicholas Metaxa and Emilie Theophilatos. He worked as a civil servant, becoming principle private secretary to the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture before emigrating to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1926 to pursue a career in

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

. He first began his showbusiness career recording songs, the first being the Romanian folk song "Mandrulita" in 1927. After engaging with Charles B. Cochran, his first stage billing was in John Hastings Turner's 1929 musical revue '' Wake Up and Dream''. Metaxa was then cast in Noël Coward's

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

Bitter Sweet Bittersweet, bitter-sweet, or bitter sweet may refer to: Biology * A vine in the nightshade family, ''Solanum dulcamara'' * Some species of vines in the genus ''Celastrus'', including American bittersweet (''C. scandens'') and Oriental bitters ...

''. He continued to record songs in London until 1931, finishing with Ray Noble's " Goodnight Sweetheart" before moving to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with the ''Bitter Sweet'' touring company. His career in New York was slow to start, perhaps in part due to the saturation of similar male leads at the time. He nevertheless managed to find roles, his first film role being in '' Secrets of a Secretary'' in 1931. Metaxa was cast in the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

'' The Cat and the Fiddle'' and later the musical comedy ''

Revenge with Music ''Revenge with Music'' is a musical comedy with book and lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz, that opened on Broadway in 1934. This was the first "book" musical by Dietz and Schwartz. Background and productions Dietz, inspired by ...

''. He notably starred opposite

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

and

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

in 1936's '' Swing Time'', playing Astaire's love rival, the bandleader Ricky Romero. He was married to Helene Valoary until their amicable divorce in July 1933, and they had one daughter. He then married 18-year-old actress Margaret Stafford in September 1933. In April 1934, Metaxa and Stafford were involved in an automobile accident in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, which killed Stafford and gravely injured Metaxa. He later married Byrnece Macfadden Muckerman (the daughter of American publisher and bodybuilder

Bernarr Macfadden Bernarr Macfadden (born Bernard Adolphus McFadden, August 16, 1868 – October 12, 1955) was an American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He founded the long-running magazine pu ...

) in 1946. Towards the end of his life, Metaxa's health declined to such a point he had to turn down roles, notably, the leading role in ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

'' that was being shown in London. Metaxa died suddenly of a heart attack 8 December 1950 at a hotel in

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the list of municipalities in Louisiana#List of Municipalities, eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 Unit ...

, as he and his wife were on their way to their home in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

after returning from a seven-month-long trip around Europe.

Selected performances

Film

Stage

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Metaxa, Georges Male actors from Bucharest Romanian emigrants to the United States American film actors American stage actors American male musical theatre actors 1899 births 1950 deaths 20th-century American actors 20th-century American singers