WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.439 So I want to start this deep dive off with a 00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:04.759 little bit of a mental exercise. I want you to 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:08.400 picture, if you can, the absolute quintessential 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:11.740 child of the early 1950s. You know those old 00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:14.119 Norman Rockwell paintings, right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. 00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:16.359 A perfectly idyllic American childhood. Right, 00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:18.179 exactly. So just visualize that for a second. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:20.620 You've got this young boy, maybe six or seven 00:00:20.620 --> 00:00:24.019 years old. He's very slender, a little fragile 00:00:24.019 --> 00:00:26.100 looking even. He has that slicked back, dark 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:28.739 blonde hair, these big, innocent, deep blue eyes. 00:00:29.370 --> 00:00:31.010 He basically looks like he should be holding 00:00:31.010 --> 00:00:34.270 a slingshot or hiding behind a white picket fence. 00:00:34.450 --> 00:00:36.810 He just looks very shy. I can see him perfectly. 00:00:36.890 --> 00:00:39.490 It's that classic kind of kid who would be, you 00:00:39.490 --> 00:00:42.210 know, seen and not heard. Yes. Now here's where 00:00:42.210 --> 00:00:44.810 I want you to break that image completely. Imagine 00:00:44.810 --> 00:00:47.909 this delicate, completely innocent looking child 00:00:47.909 --> 00:00:50.810 opens his mouth to speak to you. But instead 00:00:50.810 --> 00:00:54.369 of a high pitched childish squeak, out comes 00:00:54.369 --> 00:00:57.710 this raspy, incredibly deep stentorian voice. 00:00:57.929 --> 00:01:00.710 It literally sounds like a foghorn on a tugboat. 00:01:01.250 --> 00:01:03.509 Wow. It just creates such a huge cognitive dissonance. 00:01:03.609 --> 00:01:05.790 It's almost startling just to imagine it, honestly. 00:01:05.950 --> 00:01:08.890 It's like a total disconnect between the visual 00:01:08.890 --> 00:01:11.950 and the audio. And that disconnect is exactly 00:01:11.950 --> 00:01:13.769 what we're going to be talking about today. We 00:01:13.769 --> 00:01:17.730 are diving into the life of George Winslow. George 00:01:17.730 --> 00:01:20.810 Foghorn Winslow. Also born George Carl Winsleff. 00:01:20.909 --> 00:01:23.510 Right. And if you are a fan of classic Hollywood, 00:01:23.769 --> 00:01:26.310 you definitely know this kid. He was the ultimate 00:01:26.310 --> 00:01:28.969 scene stealer who didn't just stand next to absolute 00:01:28.969 --> 00:01:31.629 giants like Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant, but 00:01:31.629 --> 00:01:33.590 he actually held his own against them. And in 00:01:33.590 --> 00:01:35.829 some cases, I'd argue he actually commanded the 00:01:35.829 --> 00:01:38.290 screen more than they did, which is really saying 00:01:38.290 --> 00:01:40.129 a lot when you're standing right next to Marilyn 00:01:40.129 --> 00:01:42.510 Monroe. It really is. But, you know, we have 00:01:42.510 --> 00:01:44.569 this whole stack of sources here today. We've 00:01:44.569 --> 00:01:47.030 got somographies, biographies, old articles. 00:01:47.269 --> 00:01:49.390 And what really strikes me is that we aren't 00:01:49.390 --> 00:01:52.109 just looking at a list of old movies. No, definitely 00:01:52.109 --> 00:01:54.469 not. This isn't just a basic remember when session. 00:01:54.670 --> 00:01:57.579 We are unpacking the life of a boy. who became 00:01:57.579 --> 00:02:00.140 a massive Hollywood sensation pretty much by 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:03.000 accident. He possessed this deadpan demeanor 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.159 that professional comedians would kill for and 00:02:05.159 --> 00:02:07.659 then he simply walked away. And that is the part 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:09.879 that really hooked me on this deep dive. The 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:12.840 exit. The way he just left. Right. Because normally 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:15.740 when we talk about child stars, especially from 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:19.500 the golden age of Hollywood, we're bracing ourselves 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:22.259 for a very specific kind of story. Yeah, the 00:02:22.259 --> 00:02:24.479 standard Judy Garland narrative. Exactly. We 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:27.520 expect the tragedy, we expect the burnout, the 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.360 exploitation or, you know, the desperate clinging 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:33.000 to fading fame as they get older. But George 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:35.639 Winslow's story is... radically different. It 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:37.900 really is. It's fundamentally a story about agency. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.240 It raises so many interesting questions about 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:42.819 success and identity and about what a quote -unquote 00:02:42.819 --> 00:02:45.419 good life actually looks like. Right. We're gonna 00:02:45.419 --> 00:02:48.039 look at how a boy went from trading barbs with 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:50.500 Hollywood legends to a life that looks completely 00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:52.539 different and why that might actually be his 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:54.900 biggest success of all. I really love that framing. 00:02:55.259 --> 00:02:57.080 So let's get into the timeline here. We have 00:02:57.080 --> 00:02:59.680 to start with the origin story because I love 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.199 this. It wasn't some high pressure casting call 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:05.120 with aggressive stage parents pushing him into 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.000 a room. It actually started on the radio. That's 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:10.620 right. It all began with Art Link Letters Show. 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:12.759 People are funny. Now for anyone listening who 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:15.819 might not realize the scale of this. People were 00:03:15.819 --> 00:03:17.419 finding it wasn't just some local radio spot. 00:03:17.460 --> 00:03:19.860 This was an absolute juggernaut. Oh, massive. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.919 It was a huge family -oriented program. You can 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:25.580 sort of think of it as the precursor to modern 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:28.639 reality TV or those audience participation shows. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:33.419 But with a very gentle 1950s veneer over it, 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:36.099 it relied heavily on spontaneous interactions. 00:03:36.460 --> 00:03:38.740 And Linklater was a real pro at talking to kids. 00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:40.659 He had this whole segment where he'd interview 00:03:40.659 --> 00:03:43.139 children, basically expecting them to say the 00:03:43.139 --> 00:03:44.879 darnedest things right, usually just because 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.620 they were nervous or naive or just acting cute. 00:03:47.939 --> 00:03:50.419 Exactly. He's totally fishing for cute. So young 00:03:50.419 --> 00:03:52.400 George Wenzlaff, just a regular kid from Los 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:54.759 Angeles, gets picked to be on the show. Link 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:56.919 letter brings him up to the mic, probably expecting 00:03:56.919 --> 00:04:00.460 a shy little whisper, and he asks the boy his 00:04:00.460 --> 00:04:02.710 name. This is the moment. This is the big bang 00:04:02.710 --> 00:04:05.349 of his career. It really is. George looks at 00:04:05.349 --> 00:04:08.509 him completely deadpan. No smile, no nervousness 00:04:08.509 --> 00:04:11.370 at all. And he leans into the mic and just unleashes 00:04:11.370 --> 00:04:14.050 that gravelly baritone. He says, George once 00:04:14.050 --> 00:04:16.230 laughed, but I'd rather be Casey Jones. George 00:04:16.230 --> 00:04:18.410 Wentz left, but I'd rather be Casey Jones. And 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:20.290 the place just erupted, didn't it? It brought 00:04:20.290 --> 00:04:23.250 the house down. The audience lost it. Link letter 00:04:23.250 --> 00:04:26.110 lost it. You really have to understand the cultural 00:04:26.110 --> 00:04:29.110 context of that specific line. Casey Jones wasn't 00:04:29.110 --> 00:04:32.509 a comic book superhero. No, he was a legendary 00:04:32.509 --> 00:04:36.029 railroad engineer who died trying to stop his 00:04:36.029 --> 00:04:39.029 train to save lives. He was this figure of grit 00:04:39.029 --> 00:04:41.850 and labor and real tragic and such a good point. 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:43.689 He didn't say I want to be Superman or a cowboy. 00:04:43.829 --> 00:04:46.660 He identified with a working class tragic hero. 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:49.980 Right. So hearing a tiny fragile looking six 00:04:49.980 --> 00:04:52.180 year old with the voice of a 50 year old dock 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:54.459 worker say he wants to be a railroad engineer. 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:58.600 It was comedic gold. It was the intense specificity 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:00.139 of it. And it wasn't just the voice, either, 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:02.240 was it? It was the delivery. That's the key. 00:05:02.540 --> 00:05:04.959 Comedy is all about timing and expectation. You 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:07.699 expect a child to be bubbly or shy. You do not 00:05:07.699 --> 00:05:10.540 expect a weary, deep -voiced declaration of an 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:13.040 alter ego. Yeah. That appearance was so successful, 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:15.500 it didn't just happen once. Linkletter realized 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:17.740 immediately he had struck gold. George ended 00:05:17.740 --> 00:05:20.079 up doing about 20 appearances on People Are Funny. 00:05:20.329 --> 00:05:23.149 20 appearances. That's a recurring rule by any 00:05:23.149 --> 00:05:25.930 standard. So he was already a radio star before 00:05:25.930 --> 00:05:28.250 he ever even stepped in front of a camera. But 00:05:28.250 --> 00:05:30.589 here is where the story takes a turn that feels 00:05:30.589 --> 00:05:33.290 like it's straight out of a movie script. Because 00:05:33.290 --> 00:05:35.170 you never know who is listening to the radio. 00:05:35.410 --> 00:05:37.389 This is where it gets really, really interesting. 00:05:37.740 --> 00:05:39.779 One of the people listening to Art Linkletter 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:42.680 that day happened to be Cary Grant. Cary Grant. 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:44.740 I mean, literally the definition of a movie star. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:47.420 The most debonair man on the planet. The one 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:50.220 and only. And Grant wasn't just passively listening 00:05:50.220 --> 00:05:53.339 either. He was genuinely impressed. He heard 00:05:53.339 --> 00:05:55.980 that unusual voice, sure. But more importantly, 00:05:56.180 --> 00:05:58.959 he heard those natural comedy instincts. He basically 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.259 heard a straight man. It's amazing to think about. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:04.519 Cary Grant, sitting by his radio, laughing at 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:06.560 this kid and thinking, I need to work with him. 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:09.180 And he didn't just think it. He actually made 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:11.879 it happen. He did. Grant was a very powerful 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:14.240 figure in Hollywood. He reached out and personally 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:17.060 introduced George to the director, Norman Taurag. 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:19.519 This wasn't a send in a headshot and we'll see 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.480 situation. This introduction led directly to 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.660 George getting cast in his first films. Talk 00:06:24.660 --> 00:06:28.360 about a golden ticket. So his debut was in 1952. 00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:32.519 The film was room for one more. And who starred 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:35.300 in it? Cary Grant. Of course it was. And they 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:38.779 didn't stop there. That exact same year, 1952, 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:41.019 he's in monkey business, again with Cary Grant. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.339 But also Ginger Rogers. It's incredible when 00:06:45.339 --> 00:06:48.100 you just pause to consider it. He's six years 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:50.500 old and he's trading lines with the absolute 00:06:50.500 --> 00:06:53.439 royalty of the studio system. And he's not just 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:55.800 a prop, he's actively generating laughs. But 00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:57.860 I think for most people, if they recognize the 00:06:57.860 --> 00:06:59.660 face or the voice, it's probably from the next 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:02.720 year. 1953, this is the peak foghorn moment. 00:07:02.980 --> 00:07:05.579 Gentlemen prefer blondes. Yes. This is the movie 00:07:05.579 --> 00:07:08.319 that really cemented his legacy. He plays Henry 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:10.920 Spofford III. And let's set the scene for the 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:12.579 listeners who might not have seen this classic 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:15.199 recently. Who exactly is Henry Spofford III? 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:18.360 Well, he's a rich kid. But the character is written 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:21.480 as this weary, cynical, miniature adult. And 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:23.319 the director, Howard Hawks, was just brilliant 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:25.480 here. He understood exactly what he had with 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:28.120 George. He didn't try to make him a cute kid. 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:30.680 He used him to deconstruct the adults in the 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:34.120 room. There is this one scene which is just iconic. 00:07:34.500 --> 00:07:37.019 He is sitting with Marilyn Monroe. who plays 00:07:37.019 --> 00:07:39.660 Lorelai Lee. The ultimate sex symbol of the 1950s. 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:41.560 This was the whole century, honestly. Yeah. And 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:44.740 she's doing her classic, breathy, naive, wide 00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:47.040 -eyed schtick. And then you have Henry Spofford 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:49.220 III. He looks at her with those heavy eyelids 00:07:49.220 --> 00:07:51.240 and that deep croak, and what does he say? Well, 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:54.319 it tells her she possesses a certain animal magnetism. 00:07:54.420 --> 00:07:56.740 A certain animal magnetism. Yeah. Coming from 00:07:56.740 --> 00:07:59.160 a seven -year -old. It's pure genius. It worked 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:01.439 because it flips the power dynamic completely 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:04.019 on its head. Usually, men in movies were falling 00:08:04.019 --> 00:08:06.129 all over Maryland, turning into... blithering 00:08:06.129 --> 00:08:09.889 idiots. But here is a child clinically analyzing 00:08:09.889 --> 00:08:12.850 her appeal. He calls out the artifice of Hollywood 00:08:12.850 --> 00:08:15.810 glamour right to the face of its biggest star. 00:08:16.269 --> 00:08:17.949 And the sources say he actually stole scenes 00:08:17.949 --> 00:08:20.870 from her, which, let's be honest, is nearly impossible 00:08:20.870 --> 00:08:23.589 to do. Marilyn Monroe commanded the screen like 00:08:23.589 --> 00:08:26.170 almost no one else. But your eye goes right to 00:08:26.170 --> 00:08:28.879 the kid. It does. And it worked because of the 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.899 juxtaposition, the innocence of his look, that 00:08:31.899 --> 00:08:34.480 slender, blue -eyed Norman Rockwell vibe we talked 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:38.039 about versus this stentorian voice and the adult 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:41.200 dialogue. It created a very specific brand of 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.940 comedy that was very much of that era, but it 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:46.159 still holds up because it's just so absurd. He 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.820 was on a massive roll. He did Mr. Scoutmaster 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:52.440 in 1953, where he was trading barbs with Clifton 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:54.820 Webb. And by this point, the nickname was official, 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.799 wasn't it? It was. He was billed on posters as 00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:01.559 George Foghorn Winslow. The nickname had entirely 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:03.899 become the brand. And he kept working with legends. 00:09:04.179 --> 00:09:07.340 In 1955, he's in Artists and Models. That's Dean 00:09:07.340 --> 00:09:09.840 Martin and Jerry Lewis, plus Shirley MacLaine. 00:09:10.019 --> 00:09:12.480 A total powerhouse cast. Although we should note 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:14.360 that, looking back, critics have somewhat different 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:16.720 takes on this specific era. Right. I saw a note 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.860 here in our sources about a blogger named Aurora 00:09:18.860 --> 00:09:21.559 who did a retrospective on him. Yes. She referred 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:24.419 to Artists and Models as Wenceslas's last good 00:09:24.419 --> 00:09:27.879 movie. Ouch. That seems a little harsh, doesn't 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:31.440 it? It is a bit harsh, but from a film historian's 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:33.220 standpoint, you can really see the trajectory. 00:09:33.980 --> 00:09:37.299 By 1955, George is getting older. The gimmick 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:40.240 of the deep voice relies so heavily on the contrast 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.379 with a tiny, delicate body. As the body grows 00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:45.740 and he starts looking more like a regular older 00:09:45.740 --> 00:09:49.429 kid, the contrast naturally diminishes. It's 00:09:49.429 --> 00:09:52.190 a high wire act that just inherently has a time 00:09:52.190 --> 00:09:54.929 limit. That's the real danger of being a character 00:09:54.929 --> 00:09:58.169 actor as a child. If your fame is built on a 00:09:58.169 --> 00:10:00.950 very specific, physical trait like a cute lisp 00:10:00.950 --> 00:10:05.090 or a funny walk or a deep voice, biology is eventually 00:10:05.090 --> 00:10:07.529 going to come for your career. Exactly. He did 00:10:07.529 --> 00:10:09.269 manage to transition into television, though. 00:10:09.429 --> 00:10:11.850 He worked steadily on major shows like The Adventures 00:10:11.850 --> 00:10:13.929 of Ozzy and Harriet Blondie, Dear Phoebe. So 00:10:13.929 --> 00:10:15.929 he was definitely a working actor. But then we 00:10:15.929 --> 00:10:18.769 hit 1958. This is the major pivot point. The 00:10:18.769 --> 00:10:20.830 year everything changed. He does a film called 00:10:20.830 --> 00:10:23.450 Wild Heritage. He plays a character named Talbot 00:10:23.450 --> 00:10:25.929 Breslin, the son of Maureen O'Sullivan's character. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:29.139 And that was it. The final screen appearance. 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:32.700 He retires. And let's really unpack this, because 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:36.519 he was born in 1946. So in 1958, he's 12. 12 00:10:36.519 --> 00:10:39.840 years old. Why? Usually when a child star disappears 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.179 at 12, we instantly assume the worst. Did he 00:10:43.179 --> 00:10:46.059 have a meltdown? Was he forced out by the studios? 00:10:46.330 --> 00:10:49.110 The sources are so refreshingly drama -free on 00:10:49.110 --> 00:10:51.110 this, which makes it almost more fascinating 00:10:51.110 --> 00:10:53.549 in a way. He simply finished school. Wait, he 00:10:53.549 --> 00:10:55.549 just went back to being a normal kid. It really 00:10:55.549 --> 00:10:58.490 seems so. He retired from show business? There's 00:10:58.490 --> 00:11:00.649 absolutely no mention of a scandal, no mention 00:11:00.649 --> 00:11:03.509 of burnout in the traditional Hollywood sense. 00:11:03.929 --> 00:11:06.350 He just stopped being Foghorn and went back to 00:11:06.350 --> 00:11:08.970 being George Winslow. That is a level of self 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:11.289 -awareness or maybe just incredible parental 00:11:11.289 --> 00:11:14.870 guidance that is so rare. He didn't try to awkwardly 00:11:14.870 --> 00:11:17.129 transition into teen roles. He didn't try to 00:11:17.129 --> 00:11:19.470 launch a pop music career to stay relevant. He 00:11:19.470 --> 00:11:21.850 just stopped. And this brings us to what I think 00:11:21.850 --> 00:11:23.830 is the most surprising part of the whole story, 00:11:23.889 --> 00:11:26.710 the second act. Because George didn't just sit 00:11:26.710 --> 00:11:29.149 around Hollywood recounting his glory days with 00:11:29.149 --> 00:11:32.350 Marilyn Monroe. He built a completely different 00:11:32.350 --> 00:11:36.110 life, a life of service. It's a huge shift. We 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:38.649 fast forward from the glamorous Hollywood backlots 00:11:38.649 --> 00:11:42.210 to the Vietnam War. Yes. George served in the 00:11:42.210 --> 00:11:44.509 Navy during the Vietnam War. I just have to pause 00:11:44.509 --> 00:11:47.590 on this for a second. Imagine serving alongside 00:11:47.590 --> 00:11:50.960 him. You're on a ship or in a unit, and this 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:54.659 guy with a very distinct raspy voice is giving 00:11:54.659 --> 00:11:57.259 you orders or working right beside you. Do you 00:11:57.259 --> 00:11:59.340 think people knew who he was? It's hard to say 00:11:59.340 --> 00:12:01.759 how much he broadcasted it. The voice famously 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:04.240 didn't change much as he aged. It just finally 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:07.259 fit his adult body. But in the Navy, you aren't 00:12:07.259 --> 00:12:09.919 a celebrity. You're a rank. You're a sailor. 00:12:10.029 --> 00:12:12.830 It's the ultimate equalizer. It's such a crazy 00:12:12.830 --> 00:12:15.110 collision of two completely different worlds. 00:12:15.629 --> 00:12:17.830 Hollywood is all about ego and standing out and 00:12:17.830 --> 00:12:20.250 being seen. The military is entirely about the 00:12:20.250 --> 00:12:22.210 unit and blending in. And he seemed to really 00:12:22.210 --> 00:12:24.090 embrace that because after the war, he didn't 00:12:24.090 --> 00:12:26.149 go back to L .A. to try and revive his career. 00:12:26.269 --> 00:12:28.409 He didn't try to get a cameo on the love boat 00:12:28.409 --> 00:12:31.250 or write some tell -all memoir. No, he didn't. 00:12:31.330 --> 00:12:34.629 In the late 1970s, he moved to Camp Meeker, California, 00:12:34.850 --> 00:12:37.450 which is a pretty quiet, very small community 00:12:37.450 --> 00:12:41.049 in Sonoma County. Think towering redwoods, quiet 00:12:41.049 --> 00:12:43.590 streets. Very different from the bright lights 00:12:43.590 --> 00:12:45.970 of Hollywood. And he took a job with the Postal 00:12:45.970 --> 00:12:48.570 Service. A mail carrier. George Faulkorn Winslow 00:12:48.570 --> 00:12:50.710 became your local mailman. There is something 00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:53.570 just profoundly poetic about that to me. The 00:12:53.570 --> 00:12:55.610 mail carrier is such a pillar of the community, 00:12:55.669 --> 00:12:58.570 but it's a very humble role. It's consistent. 00:12:58.809 --> 00:13:02.600 It's reliable. It is the exact opposite of the 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:05.340 chaotic, ego -driven world of show business. 00:13:05.740 --> 00:13:07.519 And he worked there until he retired. So let's 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.480 just recap this trajectory for a second, because 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:12.179 it's totally wild. A radio star at, what, six, 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:14.700 a movie star working with Cary Grant and Marilyn 00:13:14.700 --> 00:13:18.539 Monroe by seven, retired at 12, Navy veteran, 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:21.679 postal worker, and then a retiree in Camp Meeker. 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:24.320 It reflects a complete shedding of the celebrity 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.360 identity. And I think that's exactly why this 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:28.720 story resonates so much with us today. We are 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.700 so used to the narrative that fame is the ultimate 00:13:30.700 --> 00:13:32.720 goal in life. And once you have it, you fight 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:34.500 to keep it. You cling to the cliff edge with 00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:36.919 your fingernails. Right. Where are they now is 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:39.399 usually a really sad question because the answer 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:42.240 is almost always struggling to be relevant. Exactly. 00:13:42.779 --> 00:13:45.000 But George Winslow answers that question with, 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:47.600 I'm delivering the mail and I'm totally fine. 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:50.940 He seemed to treat fame as just a thing he did 00:13:50.940 --> 00:13:52.860 as a kid, kind of like being in the Boy Scouts. 00:13:53.059 --> 00:13:54.840 Like, oh yeah, I did movies for a few years. 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:57.740 It was fun. And then he just moved on. It really 00:13:57.740 --> 00:13:59.779 sounds like he found genuine peace in the normal. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.759 I think so too. But sadly, we do have to talk 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:06.179 about the end of his life. Right. George passed 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:10.909 away on June 13. 2015. He was 69 years old. He 00:14:10.909 --> 00:14:13.210 was still living in Camp Meeker. A friend actually 00:14:13.210 --> 00:14:15.870 found him at home a day later. The sources mentioned 00:14:15.870 --> 00:14:18.250 the police confirmed there was no specific cause 00:14:18.250 --> 00:14:20.269 determined immediately, but he had been treated 00:14:20.269 --> 00:14:22.429 for heart disease for several years prior. It 00:14:22.429 --> 00:14:24.830 sounds like a very quiet passing, but the way 00:14:24.830 --> 00:14:27.309 he was honored really drives home the duality 00:14:27.309 --> 00:14:28.889 of his life. And this is the part that really 00:14:28.889 --> 00:14:31.009 got me. Tell us about the memorial. So there 00:14:31.009 --> 00:14:34.009 is a service in Petaluma, California, but then 00:14:34.009 --> 00:14:36.649 his final resting place is the Sacramento Valley 00:14:36.649 --> 00:14:39.110 National Cemetery. That's a military cemetery. 00:14:39.730 --> 00:14:42.470 Exactly. He was buried with full military honors. 00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:45.830 When it came down to the final curtain, his identity 00:14:45.830 --> 00:14:49.330 as a veteran, as a sailor, was just as significant, 00:14:49.370 --> 00:14:52.029 if not more so, than his identity as a Hollywood 00:14:52.029 --> 00:14:54.250 actor. They give me goosebumps, actually. It's 00:14:54.250 --> 00:14:56.549 really about what you value in the end. And you 00:14:56.549 --> 00:14:59.549 know, his story didn't completely disappear either. 00:15:00.029 --> 00:15:04.399 People remembered him. In fact, in 2021, long 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:06.899 after he passed, he became the subject of an 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:09.179 award -winning short documentary. Oh, really? 00:15:09.700 --> 00:15:11.159 I didn't know there was a doc. What's it called? 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:14.419 It's called Foghorn Child Actor Veteran Friend, 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:18.269 directed by Diana Maciel -Sanchez. Child, actor, 00:15:18.330 --> 00:15:20.409 veteran, friend. That title really nails it, 00:15:20.450 --> 00:15:23.009 doesn't it? It completely encapsulates the three 00:15:23.009 --> 00:15:25.690 distinct lives he lived. The public face that 00:15:25.690 --> 00:15:28.309 we know from the classic movies, the service 00:15:28.309 --> 00:15:30.850 he gave to his country, and the private person 00:15:30.850 --> 00:15:33.029 he was to those who knew him in Camp Meeker. 00:15:33.269 --> 00:15:34.990 It's a really beautiful tribute. You know, when 00:15:34.990 --> 00:15:36.370 we started this deep dive, I thought we were 00:15:36.370 --> 00:15:38.289 just going to laugh about a funny voice in some 00:15:38.289 --> 00:15:40.950 quirky old movies. And we should. Foghorn is 00:15:40.950 --> 00:15:43.070 a really funny concept, and he was genuinely 00:15:43.070 --> 00:15:46.070 talented. But this is really a story about agency. 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:49.500 about choosing your own path. It is. George Winslow 00:15:49.500 --> 00:15:51.899 proves you can have a massive cultural impact. 00:15:52.580 --> 00:15:54.899 I mean, people still quote that animal magnetism 00:15:54.899 --> 00:15:57.379 line from Gentleman Prefer Blondes Today. You 00:15:57.379 --> 00:15:59.379 can have that kind of impact in an incredibly 00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:01.879 short window of time and then successfully pivot 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:04.600 to a completely normal, honorable life. You don't 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:07.120 have to be famous forever to be successful. Precisely. 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.519 Fame can be a season, not a destination. And 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:12.000 if we connect this to the bigger picture, it 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.379 raises an important question for all of us, really. 00:16:14.580 --> 00:16:16.879 What's that? Well, George was famous for something 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.419 physical, his voice, his look. It was something 00:16:19.419 --> 00:16:22.039 he was just born with. When you are famous for 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:24.919 something like that as a child, how difficult 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:27.500 is it to find out who you actually are when the 00:16:27.500 --> 00:16:30.039 cameras stop rolling? George seemed to find the 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:32.899 answer in service and simplicity, but I wonder. 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:35.259 I wonder how many people today, especially in 00:16:35.259 --> 00:16:38.019 the age of viral fame and influencers, could 00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:41.000 do what he did. If you had the golden ticket, 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:44.759 if you had Cary Grant on speed dial, could you 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:46.679 put it down? Could you walk away from the spotlight 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:49.120 at age 12 and be totally content delivering the 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:51.960 mail? That is a very heavy question to end on. 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:56.179 Could you walk away? George Winslow did, and 00:16:56.179 --> 00:16:58.399 by all accounts, he lived a very full life because 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:00.480 of it. He did indeed. Thank you for listening 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.039 to this deep dive into the life of George Foghorn 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:05.359 Winslow, a truly unique character in Hollywood 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:06.779 history. We'll see you next time.