Born in Pasadena, California, on October 9, 1921, actor George Nader graduated from Occidental College with a B.A. in theater arts before joining the Navy during World War II. Upon returning home after the war, Nader acted in stage plays in southern California. By 1950, he started getting small, uncredited roles in films and also acted in early television. His handsome visage was his ticket to a Universal Studios contract by the mid 1950s, where he made a number of films. However, his first starring role came in the form of the independent 1953 flick Robot Monster, a 3-D feature directed by Phil Tucker. Robot Monster features George Barrows as the monster, wearing a monkey suit with a diving bell. Tucker's opus was produced for $16,000 (fantastically cheap even in 1953) and was shot entirely outdoors in four days in Bronson Canyon, east of Los Angeles. Although heralded as one of the worst films of all time, it was the first science fiction film released with stereophonic sound. During its initial run, Robot Monster made more than $1 million, mostly due to the novelty of the 3-D process. From the 1950s through the mid 1960s, Nader made numerous films and television appearances in America. After securing a contract with Universal, he won a 1955 Golden Globe award for "Most Promising Newcomer." However, with the death of the studio system in the late 1950s, Nader's contract with Universal-International lapsed. Afterward, he began doing quite a bit of work in television. In the mid 1960s, with Nader's career ebbing, he went to Germany to star as FBI agent Jerry Cotton in a string on James Bond-themed films. These movies proved highly popular in Europe and revived Nader's acting career.
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