Jeannette Clift George, often credited professionally as Jeannette Clift (June 1, 1925 – December 23, 2017), was an American film and stage actress,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, and founder of the A.D. Players

theater company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Clift was best known for her portrayal of

Corrie ten Boom Cornelia Arnolda Johanna "Corrie" ten Boom (15 April 1892 – 15 April 1983) was a Dutch watchmaker and later a Christian writer and public speaker, who worked with her father, Casper ten Boom, her sister Betsie ten Boom and other family member ...

, a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

woman who hid

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

from the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in the 1975

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

, '' The Hiding Place''. The role earned Clift a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nomination in 1975 and a

BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles The British Academy Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles is a discontinued award that was presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts until 1984. The category had several name changes: * 1952–1959: Most Promi ...

in 1977.

Early years

Born in Houston, Texas, George was the daughter of Hubert E. and Jeannette C. Clift. She earned her degree from the Department of Theater and Dance at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Acting

George's professional experience included acting with the

Alley Theatre The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at L ...

in Houston, Philadelphia's Playhouse in the Park, the District of Columbia's

Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...

, and Houston’s

Stages Repertory Theatre Stages (Houston) is a theatre company in the city of Houston, Texas formerly known as Stages Repertory Theatre. It produces performances at The Gordy, the company's three-stage venue that opened in 2020 in Houston's Montrose, Houston, Montrose neig ...

. She also toured with the New York Shakespeare Company. In 1967, George founded the After Dinner (A.D.) Players Theater Company in Houston. She led the company, which produces six main shows annually, for more than 50 years until her death in December 2017. Her acting with the group spanned 44 years, beginning with ''IBID'' (1968) and ending with ''Whatever Happened to the Villa Real'' (2012). In addition to her acting and theater careers, Clift was also an author and Bible teacher. In the 1980s, George performed in the one-act, one-woman play ''Rachel, Woman of Masada'', portraying a grandmother who survived a mass suicide at the ancient

Masada Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dea ...

fortress in Israel. On screen, George (billed as Jeannette Clift) was best known for her role as

in the 1975 film, '' The Hiding Place''. The film recounted the real-life story of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian woman who hid and rescued Jews from the Nazis during the

German occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal family re ...

Writing

Plays that George wrote include ''IBID'', ''Whatever Happened to the Villa Real'', ''Rowena'', ''Virgule'' and ''Ret''.

Personal life

George was married to Lorraine Malcom George, who died in 2004.

Death

George died on December 23, 2017, in

, at the age of 92.

Recognition

George was named a "distinguished alumnus" by the University of Texas, and she received honorary degrees from Houston Baptist University and Dallas Baptist University. She received a 1976

nomination for New Star of the Year—Actress for her role in ''The Hiding Place''. In addition to that nomination, George was honored by the

Association for Women in Communications The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) is an American professional organization for women in the communications industry. History Theta Sigma Phi The Association for Women in Communications began in 1909 as Theta Sigma Phi (), an ho ...

with a

Matrix Award Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

for "outstanding contributions" as a

. She also received a Texas Baptist Communications Award in 1988, as a well as a

Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a women's fraternity in the United States and Canada with over 250,000 initiated members. It has 150 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's executive office is in Columbus ...

fraternity Shield Award.

Legacy

The Jeannette & L.M. George Theater in Houston is named for George and her husband. Dedicated in 2017, the 450-seat theater is in the city’s Galleria-Uptown area.

References

External links

*
Jeannette Clift George websitePortions of George's book, ''Troubling Deaf Heaven: Assurance in the Silence of God'' are available on Google Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Jeannette 1925 births 2017 deaths American film actresses American stage actresses American women dramatists and playwrights Moody College of Communication alumni Actresses from Houston 21st-century American women