George Joseph Lewis was a Mexican-born actor, who appeared in many films and eventually TV series from the 1920s through the 1960s. For Disney, portrayed Don Alejandro de la Vega in the 1950s television series Zorro and Chief Black Eagle in Davy Crockett and the River Pirates.
Lewis was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. by the 1920s. He appeared in several short-subject films, such as The Collegians, playing Ed Benson, before branching out into films and serials, primarily for Republic Pictures' western genre. These credits included Captain Blood (1924), Federal Operator 99, Zorro's Black Whip, Radar Patrol vs. Spy King, Malice in the Palace, Honeymoon Flats, South of the Rio Grande, The Merry Widow, Charlie Chan in the Secret Service, The Laramie Trail, Black Arrow, The White Gorilla, Tarzan and the Leopard Woman, Rainbow Over Texas, Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, Ghost of Zorro, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Viva Zapata!, The Prisoner of Zenda, Devil's Canyon, Phantom of the Rue Morgue, Saskatchewan, A Cry in the Night, Kid Galahad, Indian Paint, and Batman (1966).
His television credits included The Roy Rogers Show, The Gene Autry Show, The Lone Ranger, Annie Oakley, Adventures of Superman, Death Valley Days, Daniel Boone, Cheyenne, Bonanza, 77 Sunset Strip, Get Smart, and Family Affair.
After Lewis retired in 1969, he became a real estate developer and property investor in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He suffered from Parkinson's disease in his later years and congestive heart failure. He passed away on December 8, 1995, only two days before his 92nd birthday at his Rancho Santa Fe home. He was cremated and survivors were his wife Mary Louise, daughter Maylo, and two grandchildren.
Roles[]
(Davy Crockett and the River Pirates)
(Zorro)
