George Francis Austin (1877-1954) began his show business career in stock companies, and was a seasoned actor when he made his earliest screen appearances in the late 1910s; allegedly, he was discovered while taking part in a studio tour. He went on to play in eighty or so feature films and dozens of shorts.
Notable films in which Austin worked as a character actor, often uncredited, include The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930), Dante’s Inferno (1935), Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Meet John Doe (1941), Jean Renoir’s Swamp Water (1941) and State of the Union (1948).
Austin acted without credit in three MGM musicals: Hollywood Party, Babes in Toyland and The Harvey Girls.
