George Sidney

George Sidney (18 March 1877 — 29 April 1945) was a Hungarian-born American film and stage comedian and actor active from the 1910s to the late 1930s. He is known for his roles in Sweet Daddies (1926), The Auctioneer (1927), The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928), and The Cohens and Kellys in Atlantic City (1929).

George Sidney was born Sammy Greenfield on March 18, 1877, in Nagynichal, Hungary. He is the half brother of producer Louis K. Sidney (1891–1958). He chose George Sidney as his stage name at the start of his career and thus, he is sometimes confused in filmographies with his illustrious nephew, director/producer George Sidney (son of his half-brother Louis K. Sidney).

After emigrating to the United States, Sidney worked extensively in vaudeville. His name began to appear on Broadway billboards as early as 1900. He made his Broadway (New York) debut in January 1900, appearing in E. D. Stair-produced musical The Floor Walkers (music by Herbert Dillea and additional lyrics by Arthur Gillespie). He played the vaudevillesque role of "Isy Mark," which he would take over often on stage.

Then followed two other musicals and five plays, including Montague Glass and Jules Eckert Goodman's Why Worry? (1918, music and lyrics by Blanche Merrill) In the play, Sidney shared the stage with Fanny Brice, Charles Trowbridge, and Charles Dale. His last two pieces on Broadway were performed in 1923 and 1938-1939 respectively.

Sidney made his screen debut in 1915, starring as Bizzy Izzy in Bizzy Izzy (1915). In 1924, he was seen as Abe Potash in Alfred E. Green's comedy In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter, alongside Alexander Carr and Vera Gordon.

In 1926, Sidney was cast as Jacob Cohen in Harry A. Pollard's The Cohens and Kellys. He then appeared in six more of "Cohens and Kellys" movies: The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928), The Cohens and Kellys in Atlantic City (1929), The Cohens and the Kellys in Scotland (1930), The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa (1930), The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood(1932), and The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble (1933).

From 1915 to 1937, Sidney appeared in over 50 films. His major film credits include Frank Capra's For the Love of Mike(1927, with Claudette Colbert and Ben Lyon), Sam Wood's The Latest from Paris (1928, with Norma Shearer and Ralph Forbes), William A. Seiter's Rafter Romance (1933, with Ginger Rogers and Norman Foster), W.S. Van Dyke's Manhattan Melodrama (1934, with Clark Gable and William Powell), and A. Edward Sutherland's Diamond Jim (1935, with Edward Arnold and Jean Arthur.)

Sidney was last seen on the silver screen in 1937, playing Kennedy in J. Walter Ruben's The Good Old Soak, starring Wallace Beery, Una Merkel, and Judith Barrett.

Sidney was married to Carey Weber.

Sidney died on April 29, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 68. He is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood.