OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
George Leroy Tirebiter has had a long and distinguished career in American entertainment and politics. Born near Chicago on
December 7, 1920, he was a child actor who appeared with Eva Le Gallienne in “Medea,” and had a long run as the young
Thomas Edison in the "Pageant of Electricity” at the Century of Progress Exposition in 1933. He soon moved on to roles
in local radio shows and became well-known at 17 as YOUNG TOM EDISON, RAILROAD DETECTIVE.
Brought to Hollywood by CBS in 1940, George Tirebiter soon became a network star with his own long-running comedy-variety
program, HOLLYWOOD MADHOUSE (1941-1946). He was also a regular character actor on THE FURTHER ADVENTURES
OF NICK DANGER, starred in the 1940s as Space Hero MARK TIME, and played MAXWELL MORGAN, CRIME CABBY
in the early Fifties.
Under contract to Paranoid Pictures, Tirebiter directed wartime musicals, including BABES IN KHAKI and PARDON MY PIN-UP.
His WHAT A FAMILY! (Argyle Artists 1948) spoofed teenagers
Georgie Tirebiter and his pals. In
his Hollywood roman a clef
STREET OF BROKEN GLASS (1954) he discusses the blacklisting which contributed to his sudden decline and fall at age 32.
The Academy, however, voted him a Good Sport Award in 1958 after he was revealed to be the auteur of two memorable sci-fi
classics: NOMADS FROM NEPTUNE (in 3-D) and THE BEAST FROM UNDER THE BED (both Monotone Pictures, 1953).
Except for a fling with Japanese theme park interests in the Sixties, Tirebiter stayed close to his rancho in the hills of Heater,
California, where he watched the rest of the world (and much of his early work) on TV. Riding the crest of a nostalgia
wave for Hollywood's glamour days, George made occasional appearances on game shows, and ran for local political office in
1968. His radical notions made him something of an underground celebrity during the "love-in" era. He was discovered by young
people, and his career became the source for film magazine articles, college theses, and even a comedy album by
The Firesign Theatre. In the mid-1970s he toured in a stage production based on a day in his show-biz life called
RADIO LAFFS OF 1940.
Tirebiter was "officially" rediscovered when he was asked to be a presenter at the 1975 Academy Awards celebration,
only to be threatened with violence during the live broadcast. He used the publicity value of this event to run for Vice-President
of the United States on the Nat'l Surrealist Party ticket in 1976. Surviving several scandals connected with his personal affairs,
Tirebiter was elected by a majority of the biosphere (“One Organism, One Vote” was a plank of Papoon & Tirebiter’s
“Not Insane!” platform.) Mr. T. served his country until 1980. His attempt to hold on to his office after the Reagan landslide
caused him to be thrown bodily out of Washington. For several years he again remained out of the public eye on his desert rancho.
(In 1990 he sold the rancho and moved to the Pacific Northwest.)
Tirebiter
was invited to co-host RADIO MOVIES, produced by Boston’s prestigeous
WGBH. For twenty years, he taught
the Art of
Radio Theatre as a visiting lecturer and performer in cities across the
country. In the ‘90s, he toured the
US again,
performing in various episodes from his autobiographical audio series THE
GEORGE TIREBITER STORY. His
most
recent comedy CD is GLT’S RADIO FOLLIES, recorded in a live performance at the
Whidbey Island Center for the
Arts. Tirebiter is currently appearing with a
weekly commentary on LIVE FROM THE ISLANDS (KSER 90.7, 1 pm Saturdays).
He has
written his first novel, a comedy-mystery set in 1940s Hollywood, THE RONALD
REAGAN MURDER CASE.