Celebrity Biographies
George Gaynes
Veteran George Gaynes succeeded as the clueless Commander Lassard, who he embodied in “Police Academy” and its six sequels. The actor died on February 15, 2016 at the age of 98 in North Bend, Washington, as confirmed by Iya Gaynes Falcone Brown, his daughter.
George Jongejans (his real name) was born into a cosmopolitan family on May 16, 1917 in Helsinki, now Finland but then part of the Russian Empire. He studied Opera in Milan, since he was going for baritone. Influenced by his uncle, the Russian actor Gregory Gaye , an unforgettable exiled waiter from Ninotchka , and his mother, the mostly theatrical actress Iya Abdy, he ended up focusing on acting.
He emigrated to the United States where he began a long career in Broadway musicals. After intervening in specific roles in the most successful series (such as Bonanza and Colombo ), he began to intervene as a secondary in the cinema. For example, he was the hilarious actor who fell head over heels for Dorothy Michaels, unaware that she was transvestite Michael Dorsey ( Dustin Hoffman ), in Tootsie .
But George Gaynes became popular with the general public as Commander Lassard, in Crazy Police Academy , and in fact he was one of the few characters to appear in the entire saga. He also found success as a foster father to the lead girl in the sitcom Punky Brewster . He also demonstrated his qualities for drama as Serybryakov, Vanya’s teacher on 42nd Street . He was a senator in Smokescreen , and retired from movies in 1993, after playing the priest in Just Married , starring Ashton Kutcher .
Married to Allyn Ann McLerie , an actress who also participated in the orphan girl series, they had two children. Through his long life he has gotten to know his great-grandchildren.