George Coulouris made authority look faintly threatening, with the shoulders and hooded eyes to give it weight. We value him in a strong ensemble, though repeated casting as villains left too much of his screen work on familiar ground.
Fi1m perspective
George Coulouris looks capable of making an unwelcome decision and expecting everyone else to accept it. His broad shoulders and hooded eyes lend themselves to men accustomed to getting their way. As Walter Parks Thatcher, the lawyer and financier in Citizen Kane (1941), he makes that authority worth watching. We rate him highly in this sort of supporting part, though the repeated casting as heavies risks telling us too quickly whom to distrust.
Orson Welles gave him a particularly good setting for those qualities. Coulouris joined Welles's Mercury Theatre in 1937 and played Mark Antony in a modern-dress Julius Caesar; Citizen Kane became his Hollywood breakthrough. Thatcher's profession makes useful sense of that formidable presence: here is someone plausibly entrusted with other people's money. We were absorbed by Citizen Kane because Welles makes the effort to understand a powerful man matter, even when the elaborate structure keeps us at a distance. Coulouris gives us a reason to keep an eye on the supporting cast.
Watch on the Rhine (1943), in which he repeated his Broadway role as the blackmailer Teck de Brancovis, helped establish him as a screen heavy. It was work he could do persuasively, but those assignments left fewer opportunities for leading or nobler parts. There is a limitation in the casting here: a threatening appearance can become an excuse to give an actor little else to do. His return to Britain in 1950 brought further classical stage work alongside his screen appearances. A stage repertoire encompassing Shakespeare, Ibsen, Shaw and Strindberg is a useful reminder of how much else he had to offer.
The later supporting roles included Dr. Chatal in Papillon (1973), Doctor Constantine in Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and Gus in The Long Good Friday (1980). Papillon is worth its long confinement for Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, with the oppressive penal colony doing much of the remaining work. We would not choose it chiefly for Coulouris. The episodic story and insistent music remain substantial reservations, however dependable the cast. Begin with Citizen Kane, and pay attention to the man entrusted with the money.
Biography
George Coulouris was an English stage and screen actor. Born George Alexander Coulouris on 1 October 1903 in Manchester, he trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and made his stage debut in 1926 at the Old Vic in Henry V. He appeared on Broadway from the late 1920s and joined Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre, playing Mark Antony in the 1937 modern-dress production of Julius Caesar.
Coulouris entered films in 1933 and became known for character roles, often as villains. His performance as Walter Parks Thatcher in Citizen Kane (1941) brought wider recognition, and he received a National Board of Review award for it alongside Welles. Later credits include For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Papillon (1973) and Murder on the Orient Express (1974). He also worked in television, appearing in series such as Doctor Who and The Prisoner. Coulouris died in London on 25 April 1989.
