Houston theater company founder, Golden Globe nominee Jeannette Clift George dies at 92

 

Alex Stuckey

Dec. 24, 2017

JEANETTE CLIFT GEORGE

Driving Miss Daisy. starring Jeannette A.D. Players production of DRIVING MISS DAISY starring Jeannette Clift George and Wayne DeHart.

orlando arriaga 

Chrissy Watkins brings piquant charm to the traveler who befriends Carrie (Jeannette Clift George) in the A.D. Players' production of Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful.Craig H. Hartley/For the Chronicle 

Actress, director, playwright and author Jeannette Clift George founded A.D. Players, a Christian performing company and theater, in 1967. She received a Golden Globe nomination in 1975 for her starring role as Corrie Ten Boom in The Hiding Place. George is known as a Bible teacher and speaker. She is pictured here in a 2004 production of Anastasia.Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle 

BIG CHECK: Gene Forsythe and Jeannette Clift George hold the oversized $10,000 check, donated to the A.D. Players through an Outstanding Volunteer Award Program through Forsythe?s employer, Northwestern Mutual.For the Chronicle 

Jeannette Clift George, a Golden Globe nominated actress, native Houstonian and local theater company founder, died Saturday. She was 92.

George was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as Corrie ten Boom in the 1975 film "The Hiding Place," which was about a family who sheltered Jewish neighbors during the Holocaust and then were imprisoned in a concentration camp.

Even prior to that role, George had made a name for herself in Houston's theater life. In 1967, she founded Houston's After Dinner (A.D.) Players Theater Company, which is Christian based, according to the company's Facebook page.

The company produces six Main Stage shows each year and is "committed to producing plays and programs that uphold human value, offer creativity and promote literacy and education, according to Facebook.

In a Christmas Eve Facebook post, the company paid tribute to the woman who led them for nearly five decades.

"Those who knew and loved Jeannette well will remember her laughter, her winsome teaching, her life-long passion for theatre and her steadfast love for her Lord Jesus Christ," the Facebook post read. "Her presence among us will be sorely missed"

George received numerous awards throughout her lifetime, including the Matrix Award for outstanding contribution to the community through her playwriting; the Delta Gamma Fraternity Shield Award for distinguished achievement; and the 1998 Texas Baptist Communications Award.

Along with her distinguished acting career, George was an author and Bible teacher.

"Her friendship, her teacher and her writing have been treasured by many," a company news release stated.

She held honorary degrees from Dallas Baptist University and Houston Baptist University. She is a distinguished alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin Theatre and Dance Department.

A memorial service will be held in January at Houston's Second Baptist Church, 6400 Woodway Drive. Details still are pending.

Alex Stuckey covers science and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.

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Alex Stuckey

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Alex Stuckey is an investigative reporter for the Chronicle. Stuckey won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for her work on a project examining the rampant mishandling of sexual assault reports at Utah colleges while working for The Salt Lake Tribune. She came to the Chronicle shortly thereafter to write about NASA, science and the environment.

Stuckey is an Investigative Reporters and Editors award winner and a Livingston Award Finalist. She has won a Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence in Public Service Journalism and a Frank A. Blethen Award for Local Accountability Reporting. She also has won a Society of Professional Journalists Don Baker Investigative Reporting Award.

An Ohio native, Stuckey has lived in five states since graduating from Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in 2012. She loves yoga, reading and elephants. She shares a birthday with Ruth Bader Ginsburg (girl power!) and the late Alan Bean, fourth man to walk on the moon.

She likes puppies more than people.

 

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