George Gaynes (born George Jongejans; May 16, 1917) is a Finnish-born American actor. He is an accomplished Broadway actor, as well as a film and television star in the United States. He is best-known to movie fans as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, and to television fans as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster, in which his wife, Allyn Ann McLerie, guest-starred as his love interest, and as Fran...
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George Gaynes (born George Jongejans; May 16, 1917) is a Finnish-born American actor. He is an accomplished Broadway actor, as well as a film and television star in the United States. He is best-known to movie fans as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, and to television fans as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster, in which his wife, Allyn Ann McLerie, guest-starred as his love interest, and as Frank Smith, the mob boss brought down by Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) on the soap opera General Hospital.
Gaynes was born in Helsinki, Finland, the son of Iya Grigorievna De Gay (later known as Lady Iya Abdy), an artist, and Gerritt Jongejans, a businessman. His uncle was actor Gregory Gaye.
A United States citizen for most of his life, and blessed with a superb singing voice and an amiable stage presence, Gaynes rapidly built a reputation as a Broadway musical comedy performer in the 1940s and '50s (his best-known appearance was in Wonderful...
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