Firefighters hoist horse stranded in backyard swimming pool. Mrs. Gomez said that Mrs. Tantocos son, Bienvenido Tantoco Jr., told her in the spring of 1984 that his mother was in charge of four New York buildings owned by F.L. She testified that F.L. stood for first lady and referred to Mrs. Marcos. She looked at it, Hamilton recalls, looked at it sideways, and said, Well, this looks rather good. Philippine journalist Kristina M. Luz contributed to this story. "Independent Lens" Imelda (TV Episode 2003) - IMDb Glecy Tantoco was used as a front (in) . Hamiltons draft deferment had in fact been granted on the grounds that he was the sole financial provider for Teeny which prompted an outcry when the public learned he was dating Lynda Bird Johnson in 1966. The president apparently skeptical of this movieland slickster had his longtime fixer turned Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas spearhead an off-the-books FBI probe into Hamiltons personal life. Hamilton went to Mexico for Viva Maria! ", Woman wins $100,000 lottery prize 11 hours after $11,000 casino jackpot. [9]), Hamilton went into television in 1969, supporting Lana Turner in the all-star series Harold Robbins' The Survivors (196970).[10]. Then the kid turned to Hamilton and wondered if he, too, was an actor. The Manila government plans to sell the house, now valued at more than $5 million, to help shore up its depleted hard currency reserves. In March, 1983, Hamilton flew to Hong Kong to pick up personally $5.5 million from a Tantoco bank account. He says he hasnt voted in his life and believes its irresponsible for actors, who have no qualifications, to express opinions on such matters. March 3 (UPI) -- A New Brunswick couple who initially thought a burglar had broken into their home discovered the invader was actually a panicked deer. Baskin-Robbins adds a hint of waffle, and voila, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Best coffee city in the world? New York Times October 7, 1966: 38. In a previously sealed court deposition, Hamilton testified he received the money from associates of the Marcoses, that he paid it back and that he did not know the funds were linked to the couple, the Times reported. The settlement agreement, expected to be announced perhaps as early as next week, validates Manilas claims that the house, which Hamilton sold in 1986, was financed with looted Philippine funds. He replaced his totaled Continental GT with an identical model: That car was elegant in a fistfight, and I liked that.. In truth, LBJs disapproval didnt bother Hamilton, who wasnt exactly looking for a life partner. March 3 (UPI) -- A Kentucky man who stopped to buy some breakfast said he lost his appetite when he won $50,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket. He called them personal gifts. Hamilton has acknowledged publicly and privately that he received things of value from Mrs. Marcos, from free trips to Morocco and Europe to the use of Filipino laborers sent to help remodel his house to a white Rolls-Royce for his mother. 12,109, This story has been shared 11,144 times. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Fact Checked: The Mansion That Imelda Bought for George Hamilton And an appraisal filed eight months before the loan was made estimated that the house was worth only $2.3 million. Hamilton simply signed a promissory note. Hes clearly pleased to have so many tales to tell. He and his wife fled to Hawaii, where Marcos died last year. However, Zorro was not as popular as Love at First Bite, and film leads dried up quickly. It was a box-office disappointment but was critically acclaimed. Records show that two-thirds of it--$4 million--was to be secured by the Beverly Hills house. Hamilton, an unindicted co-conspirator testifying under a grant of immunity, acknowledged under prosecution questioning that he had received a $5.5-million loan from a Philippine businesswoman and close associate of Mrs. Marcos. But Tantoco jumped bail in Rome while awaiting extradition to the United States in 1988 and has been a fugitive since. He would not knowingly participate in any transaction that has any taint.. A major sticking point: Hamilton was in trouble with the press over his Vietnam War deferment. Smart move: Emcee Bob Hope used the twosome as fodder for much of his opening monologue. A week earlier, the $5.5 million had been in a numbered Manila bank account secretly controlled by the Marcoses. With his matinee-idol looks, it was sometimes noted that Hamilton physically resembled Warren Beatty. But the newly released court documents and other related records trace the $12 million from secret Marcos accounts in the Philippines, through Hamilton investments in the United States, to foreign banks and offshore shell companies associated with the Marcoses. Now, one of those prominent friendships, with deposed Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos, has put Hamilton in the middle of global legal disputes, precipitated threats against his life and made his former Beverly Hills mansion the object of a Manila government effort to recover some fraction of the billions of dollars stolen from its national treasury during the Marcos regime. But Hamiltons attorney said that the actor thought he was dealing only with Khashoggi, Floirendo and their agents. Newsweek magazine dubbed him the Sultan of suntan.. Alana swapped with Angela "Big Ang" Raiola of Mob Wives and her husband Neil Murphy. When asked about it now, he blinks in apparent bewilderment then goes, Federal case?, Hamilton, who befriended Imelda when he participated in her countrys attempt to create a Southeast Asian answer to Cannes, has remained a fan of the notorious spendthrift. March 2 (UPI) -- A Maryland woman scored a $100,000 prize from a scratch-off lottery ticket less than 12 hours after she scored an $11,000 jackpot at a casino. At age 66 and recovering from knee injuries, Hamilton, unable to match the limber dance moves of his younger competitors, charmed the audience and judges with endearingly silly dances that used props, including a Zorro mask and the sword from Zorro, The Gay Blade. Marcos, who also was indicted, died in exile in Hawaii in September. 18,169, This story has been shared 13,785 times. No deal resulted from the May, 1983, letter Bernstein sent to Hamiltons neighbors. It was directed by Louis Malle who cast Hamilton on the strength of his performance in Two Weeks in Another Town. Imelda Marcos Saved Mother, Hamilton Says - Los Angeles Times Rafael Fernando, a representative of the Philippine commission charged with recovering Marcos's wealth, said he has turned over document regarding the Hamilton estate to the commission. Suspected burglar inside New Brunswick home was a panicked deer. And while Hamilton, who dated the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Danielle Steel and Britt Ekland, isnt currently romantically attached, hes quick to qualify: I have dates. Indeed, it was on the way to a dinner rendezvous a few months ago at industry hangout Craigs a regular spot where he can often be found with pals Robert Wagner, Tom Jones, Sugar Ray Leonard and Sylvie Vartan that he and a companion ended up in a Bentley-on-Bentley wreck. He supported Joan Collins in the miniseries Monte Carlo (1986) and had the lead role in the series Spies (1987). And, perennially, Hamilton is a pitchman. The two have remained friends over the years. Marketed as a secret formula, it included a self-tanning exfoliating scrub and bronzer. That loan was made just two months after Hamilton was among guests at a Philippine extravaganza--the First Manila International Film Festival. Hamilton played a cat burglar in MGM's Jack of Diamonds (1967). MGM tried to change his image by putting him in the Western A Thunder of Drums (1961); the film was mildly popular. Court records obtained by the Los Angeles Times indicate the actor, known for his deep suntan, used part of the money to finance the mortgage on a Beverly Hills mansion and to launch a film development project. In 2006, Hamilton competed in the second season of Dancing with the Stars[12] with professional Edyta Sliwinska in which they lasted until the sixth round. George Hamilton. His first film role was a lead, Crime and Punishment U.S.A. (1959), directed by Denis Sanders. It was produced by Sandy Howard who said Hamilton was "a hot commodity these days" because he was dating Lyndon Johnson's daughter. Hes a utility player in the reality sphere, from Dancing With the Stars (eliminated in the sixth week of the second season) and Wife Swap to Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. He purchased the storied mansion with money earned off movies co-starring Olivia de Havilland, Brigitte Bardot and Lana Turner, films that not only were successful but had given Hamilton a real shot at critical approval one he never appears to have been interested in. In this 'Where Are They Now' exclusive, actor George Hamilton explains the origins of his famous tan. I think he slops bronzer on and hopes itll last till the evening easy to put on, probably a spray tan: less fussy and camera-ready, says Hamilton, whom Trump once employed as a host of Miss Universe and later bestowed with a Lifetime Achievement Award for debonair style., For anyone seeking more than skin-deep analysis of the president, Hamilton is not your man. It was because of these transactions that the actor was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a New York federal fraud and racketeering case that accused the Marcoses of stealing Philippine money for private real estate investments. The estate was sold by Hamilton for about $6 million 10 days ago to a company based in the Grand Cayman Islands, according to documents on file in the office of the Los Angeles County Assessor. Los Angeles lawyers Alan I. Bersin and Ronald L. Olson, representing the Aquino government in a civil fraud action against the Marcoses, are expected to deliver the deed to officials in Manila next week. Marcoswho was famous for her high-flying lifestyle, endless socializing, and taste for designer clothesspent more than two decades as the First Lady of the Philippines, during which time she. However, the film was seen by Vincente Minnelli who thought Hamilton would be ideal for the younger son in Home from the Hill (1960), a Southern melodrama with Robert Mitchum. George Hamilton: I'm just a friend of the Marcoses - UPI Archives At the time, according to one page from a Malacanang Palace ledger obtained by federal investigators, the $5.5 million was entered as money ultimately controlled by the Marcoses private financial manager, Manila bank president Rolando Gapud. Hamilton enjoyed the huge pleasure of lording over his estate, yet in time it became a burden. [34] According to Burt Reynolds ' autobiography, [35] Hamilton has a healthy sense of humor, even when the humor is directed at him. In public testimony and in his previously sealed deposition, taken in 1987 as part of a Philippine government lawsuit against the Marcoses, the actor acknowledged only a social relationship with the Marcoses and repeatedly denied having any business links with the woman he commonly refers to as Madam Marcos.. (The lauded French director Louis Malle, who cast him for 1965s Viva Maria!, once sighed, Hes more interested in being in the social columns I dont understand when he should be one of the greatest of his generation.). He focused on television: Malibu (1983) and Two Fathers' Justice (1985). [15] In 1999, a Golden Palm Star on the Walk of Stars was dedicated to him. Ferdinand Marcos. for nonpolitical reasons, for nongovernmental purposes.. In 1990, Hamilton was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal fraud and racketeering case against the Marcoses involving the looting of government funds; Imelda was acquitted in the case. An unindicted co-conspirator is someone who prosecutors claim took some step that advanced a conspiracy but is not charged with a crime. In 2015 George and his ex-wife, Alana Hamilton appeared in Season 4/Episode 10 of Celebrity Wife Swap. For three decades, actor George Hamiltons associations with the rich and famous women of the world--from Lynda Bird Johnson to Vanessa Redgrave and Elizabeth Taylor--have landed his name in the pages of international glamour and gossip magazines. But previously sealed court documents and other financial records recently obtained by The Times further reveal that the actor and the widow of Ferdinand E. Marcos did business together--and that Hamilton was used, perhaps unwittingly, in the historic looting of the Philippine treasury by the Marcoses. He knows everyone in high society, finance, fashion, and he could have been the first Hollywood son-in-law in the White House.. George Hamilton doesnt mind if you lead with his tan. Initially, at the outset of this MacArthur film, I thought of it as being an action-oriented film . In 2003, Hamilton hosted The Family, a reality television series, for one season. A break for Hamilton came in 1990 when Francis Ford Coppola cast him as the Corleone family's lawyer in The Godfather Part III. British bus driver stops to give loose sheep a lift. Sitemap, Your California Privacy Rights March 2 (UPI) -- A Florida woman earned a Guinness World Record when she completed 23 ultra-marathon runs -- 31.1 miles -- in a 23-day period. In one transaction, $5.5 million in U.S. currency, raised by the government-owned Philippine National Oil Co., was siphoned into an abortive Hamilton movie production on the wartime love life of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. No film was ever made. Actor George Hamilton said Imelda Marcos saved his mother's life by inviting the despondent woman to the Philippines after Hamilton's brother died. Marcos became the first lady of the Philippines in 1965. . [3][4], Hamilton attended the Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York, graduating in 1957.[5]. LOS ANGELES -- Actor George Hamilton, who recently sold his lavish Beverly Hills estate for $6 million, denies that exiled Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos or his wife owned the property or gained from the sale. Interviews, testimony and court records--some of which were part of the massive evidence introduced in the New York case--also cast new light on the long-acknowledged relationship between the actor and Madam Marcos. Hamilton acknowledged receiving the money, but in his previously sealed deposition the actor denied knowing the money came from Mrs. Marcos. Well, kind of, Video shows Memphis jailers beating Black inmate before his death, Skin lesion removed from President Bidens chest last month was cancerous, doctor says, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs. It was a bad time, Hamilton says of the saga, his voice soft. They did all the lying. In conjuring his playboy image, MGM manufactured an old-money background. It was an arms length transaction. It was unclear whether Khashoggi put up any of his own cash to complete the deal. His trainer has him boxing. First, the promissory note was canceled after Hamilton, at the request of Floirendos lawyers, endorsed a cashiers check for $2,027,068.49 to a man named Bernard White. He went to Germany to make At the Edge of Paradise[de] (1993). Ramos said he could not remember the names of the men who picked up the $5.5 million. By the time Hamilton returned the money to Tantocos Hong Kong account in November, he had already received another $6 million from Floirendo, a sum provided at the specific request of Mrs. Marcos, according to Floirendos affidavit. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? Also a durable punchline. He summoned beauty expert extraordinaire, George Masters, to his home to oversee Johnsons hair and makeup for the big event, knowing the cameras would be zeroing in on the couple. U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan said in his Monday order that prosecutors sought immunity because Hamilton had indicated he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions that might incriminate him. Theyve remained friends. Sparks Flew when Draft-Dodging George Hamilton Dated a - thevintagenews I dont believe (Hamilton) had any reason to believe he was dealing with money belonging to Mrs. Marcos, Greenberg said. The film included scenes with Dracula and his conquest as they dance to "I Love the Nightlife" at a disco. A lawyer for the Philippines said the house was not worth nearly enough to be collateral for a $4-million loan. Hamilton wanted to do more serious material, so he appeared in the lower budgeted Angel Baby (1961), a drama about an evangelist, for Allied Artists. A lot of young actors do it and they shouldnt. He almost immediately landed the lead in a low-budget film, "Crime and. Hes parlayed his shtick into one of Hollywoods remarkably long-lasting careers including as pitchman and owner of eponymous cigar lounges outlasting stretches when the acting offers dried up. Its not just you, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Column: A transgender patients lawsuit against Kaiser is a front for the conservative war on LGBTQ rights. Everybody has to be real, he says, spitting the word. Her co-defendant, Saudi financier Adnan Khashoggi, is charged with fraud and obstruction for allegedly helping the Marcoses hide their ownership of the four buildings and art. As for why he consorted with the Marcoses in the first place, given that Ferdinand had placed the country under martial law a decade earlier, he claims he was naive at the time of what he chalks up to broadly as unrest in the country., Hamiltons at his most forthright when describing the emotional bond he shares with his loved ones, such as ex-wife Stewart. This story first appeared in the July 31 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Rich L.A. homeowners are snapping them up, Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick, Federal Reserve officials sound warnings about higher rates, White House cyber plan would hold software companies liable for attacks, Silvergate warns of more losses, viability of its business after crypto crisis, Justice Dept. In Summer 2016, Hamilton appeared in television commercials for KFC as the "Extra Crispy Colonel", a deeply tanned version of the company's mascot Colonel Sanders, a role which he returned to in Spring 2018. He guest-starred on episodes of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre and Burke's Law. Hamilton made That Man George (1965) and appeared in a production of A Farewell to Arms (1966) on TV. They had a very close relationship, Bernstein said in an interview. George was urbane and charming by the time I met him when he was 20 years old, she says. pushes companies to punish white-collar crime by clawing back exec pay, PG&E can keep operating Diablo Canyon at least for now, feds say. Bernstein said in an interview, however: I was totally directed by Imelda in this. Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer ordered the papers released last June, and a federal appeals court, calling the actor a noted man-about-town who should expect to be the object of publicity, rejected Hamiltons appeal. Trump legal team requests six-month delay in New York civil lawsuit, SpaceX launches 51 Starlink satellites from California, Merrick Garland makes secret trip to Ukraine. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. . To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. He was going to show the apartment to Elizabeth Taylor, but they couldnt get in.. George Hamilton Doesn't Bother Much With Discretion in His Memoir, 'Don Its not depression, he says. Hamilton first met Mrs. Marcos in 1979, while on a world promotional tour for his movie Love at First Bite. The actor, then at the pinnacle of his movie career, had produced the box office success, in which he also starred as a comedic vampire. [citation needed], His stepfathers were Carleton Hunt and Jesse Spalding; his stepmother was June Howard, with whom Hamilton said he had repeated sexual relations when he was age 12, shortly after she married his father, and again later when he was an adult. Acquisition of the Beverly Hills house will add to a growing list of recent property recoveries in the United States made by the Philippine government which has filed a civil racketeering case in Los Angeles federal court, seeking to recover some of the billions of dollars it claims was stolen by the Marcoses and their cronies. Although the money went to Hamilton from Mrs. Tantocos account, prosecutor LaBella said it was really a transaction involving Imelda Marcos. George Hamilton still acts for the past few seasons as Spencer Blitz on ABCs American Housewife. Actor George Hamilton, linked by federal prosecutors to some of the alleged financial schemes of Imelda Marcos, testified Tuesday that the former Philippine first lady was a great friend who prevented his mother from committing suicide after his brothers death. Documents show he returned $5.5 million to Tantocos account at the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank on Nov. 22, 1983. . For more on #WhereAreTheyNow, visit http://bit.ly/2dTkI. Floirendo said it was Mrs. Marcos who directed that the check be endorsed to White. When the show was canceled in January 1970, Hamilton went into Paris 7000 (1970). He portrayed a trouble shooter for the U.S. State Department in Paris. 'The statements are untrue,' Hamilton said Thursday through his spokesman, Michael Sherman, who also made a point of denying as 'categorically untrue' rumors linking the actor and Mrs. Marcos. And then we started talking about the real theme of the film. All Rights Reserved. A great con-man, that's what he really is. The Method-trained thespian replied that, actually, he was an actor. They had a short-lived mid-90s morning syndicated talk show, George & Alana, which competed with Live With Regis & Kathie Lee. He wouldnt talk business with Mrs. Marcos any more than he would with the Pope.. It was his only marriage; the two separated in 1976 after four years together. In 2010 Hamilton was chosen as one of David Hasselhoff's roasters in the Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff. He broke up with the first daughter not long afterward. 88". Imelda Marcos - Biography - IMDb What Colombia plans for their descendants, Messy storms roll eastward after slamming Texas, Louisiana, Ukrainians dig up more bodies from makeshift graves in once-occupied towns, New crew from U.S, Russia and UAE arrives at space station, Murdaughs fall from grace ends in a life sentence for murder. There were no hard feelings, though. For United Artists, he supported Lana Turner in thr melodrama By Love Possessed (1961). It features anecdotes that Hamilton had told to Merv Griffin. $11.8 Million in Marcos Assets Frozen by Judge - Los Angeles Times Hamilton undertook an extensive remodeling of the home, which was built by Charlie Chaplin. Philippine government sources said they discovered that both Hamilton and his mother had their own keys to the Olympic Tower home--which apparently caused some embarrassment, they said, when Hamilton tried to enter shortly after the Marcos regime collapsed. Minnesota officer removes jar from raccoon's head. Julie Andrews, Warren Beatty, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood. Assistant U.S. Atty. More recently, Hamilton has been increasingly prominent as an entrepreneur in the tanning and skin care business, marketing his own line of cosmetics and colognes. In his 2008 memoir, Dont Mind If I Do, he called the experience my own sexual bar mitzvah. But now, post-#MeToo reckoning, theres no romance to molestation, and hell speak of the perpetrator only elliptically, if still sympathetically, as a discontented housewife, slightly off, quite beautiful too., (Though Hamilton is all for gender parity in the industry, he doesnt retreat from his past description of himself as an enlightened male chauvinist, the kind who once issued such wisdom in a self-help book as Women are like a fine violin: They just need to be appreciated and bowed properly.), Hamilton is hard to pin down on the least-fun scandal of his life, the Justice Departments accusation that he was a front for the 1980s looting of the Philippine treasury at the hands of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. He also acted as a financial adviser to her, the Times reported. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. According to one press account, more than 2,000 guests nibbled from the carcasses of roasted cows and drank from $100 bottles of French Champagne as the Marcoses presided over a medieval pageant of native dancers, beauty queens, a parade of religious floats and fireworks. Imelda Marcos is accused in pending civil suits of converting billions of public dollars into private wealth during her late husbands 20-year rule over the Philippines. Its the actual plug-in to the sun that I feel when Im in it. Starting in Fall 2011, Hamilton starred as "Georges" for the national tour of the Tony-winning revival of La Cage aux Folles. The political [people] are happy to use your persona. A decade ago, he talked in swashbuckling terms about an affair with his stepmother, June Howard, a onetime singer in his fathers big band. From 1995 to 1999, Hamilton dated Kimberly Blackford, whom he met in Fort Lauderdale when she was a swimsuit model. George Stevens Hamilton (born August 12, 1939)[1] is an American actor. . According to Burt Reynolds' autobiography,[35] Hamilton has a healthy sense of humor, even when the humor is directed at him. The Philippine businesswoman, who owns Manilas largest department store, was indicted on the same charges pending against Mrs. Marcos. I just knew him as an amazing character and never did any form of business of any kind with Adnan, explains Hamilton. Charles LaBella said the government intends to prove that the so-called loan to Hamilton was actually money from one of the secret Marcos bank accounts in Manila. After making a cameo in Looking for Love (1964), Hamilton appeared in Your Cheatin' Heart (1964), playing Hank Williams. Hamilton, who once received an honorary degree from the International Smart Tan Network, a trade association for indoor tanning facilities, that he still prominently displays, says vitamin D is a healer for me. These days, though, to maintain his mahogany effect, he relies on a vintage stash of George Hamiltons Constant Color auto-bronzing tinted cream, which he once peddled on QVC. The inquiry, whose machinations became public only five years ago, turned up nothing that could potentially be weaponized except that Bill was gay. Los Angeles County records show that in April 1982 Hamilton purchased the property, owned originally by Charlie Chaplin, from a woman named Joy Bright for $1.2 million. He returned to MGM to make Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! He produced and appeared in Medusa (1973). Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos with U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson while sporting her iconic bouffant hairstyle, 1966. [13] However, Drew Carey was named as Barker's successor. In arguments outside the presence of jurors, Assistant U.S. Atty. Its melancholy. Education Hamilton went to "Hackley School" situated in Tarrytown, New York, to complete his graduation. Throughout his life - he will be 70 in August - Hamilton has had a keen eye for the absurd, and for the grotesque. Among the disputed items, estimated to be worth as much as $500,000, are pre-Columbian pottery, a painting of Rudolf Valentino and a red velvet Victorian tete-a-tete on lion paw supports. Hes uniquely qualified to assess the countrys only better-known perma-tanner, Donald Trump. Hes a vivid storehouse of alert detail. Imelda was funding him, said the prosecutor, who continues to investigate the flow of Marcos funds around the world. Hamilton, who has made such movies as 'Love at First Bite,' was often seen at parties thrown by the Marcoses and appears in some of the hundreds of home video tapes found after the Marcoses fled the presidential palace.