Long time musician and actor George Gerdes (Dwight Eisenhower, The Eleventh Green) reportedly passed away on New Year’s Day, according to ComicBook. Gerdes was 72 years old and his passing was revealed by his partner Judy Johns. The cause of death was attributed to a brain aneurysm that Gerdes experienced on December 31 and he passed the next day.
Gerdes had a long career as an entertainer, considering his acting career and talent as a musician, he definitely had a calling in life. Growing up in Queens New York in the 1950s Gerdes went on to graduate from Carnegie Melon University in 1969. Gerdes started off his career as a musician and released some critically acclaimed songs like “Say So What Else Is New?”
One of Gerdes’ friends and fellow musicians Terre Roche (Lead Singer, The Roches) describes his music as dialogues that he would create between his favorite artists and characters. “The songs were beautifully crafted. But when he mounted the stage, it was as if he had become a channel for all sorts of characters from out of the movies as he effortlessly held rapid-fire conversations between Buster Keaton, Elvis, the Wicked Witch of the West, Laurel & Hardy and myriad others from his youth,” Roche stated as reported by Comicbook.
Gerdes’ started acting in the 1980’s and he appeared in notable plays such as Fool For Love by playwright Sam Shepard and Aaron Sorkin’s (Screenwriter, The Social Network) play A Few Good Men. His television career included works such as X files, Lost, ER, Dexter, Bosch, and Greys Anatomy, and these are only some of the series he has either guest starred in or appeared as an extra. Suffice it to say, Gerdes has created an entertainment legacy for himself not only with a television career but a singing career as well.