He was born Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Massachusetts to Rebecca (née Sack) and Abraham Shelasky, Russian Jewish immigrants.
When Irving was 13 or 14, he sang in synagogues and churches as a boy soprano. By his final high school year in 1940, he heard about a dramatic school in Boston for those who were not quite draft age and who were tall and had deep voices, so he immediately received a scholarship. In 1942, he worked in the chorus of the St. Louis Muny Opera.
Irving made his debut in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma!, only to be drafted days later to serve in the United States Army in World War II. He received this role when one of the original actors lost his voice and Irving went on as his replacement. He explains the following: "I wrote to The Theatre Guild when they were casting Oklahoma! and asked them to remind Oscar Hammerstein that he knew me a little, and I got an audition and was cast in the chorus". Irving is best known to Broadway audiences for his role as opposite Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell (successively) in Irene (1974), and his Tony nominated performance as Sir John in Me and My Girl (1987).
In 2008, Irving recreated the three roles he originally played in the ill-fated 1976 Joseph Stein musical So Long, 174th Street, now reworked, revised, and with its original title Enter Laughing at Off-Broadway's York Theatre Company, and received rave reviews for his rendition of "The Butler's Song". Irving performed his one-man cabaret show to great acclaim at Feinstein's in New York City in November 2008. On December 8, 2008, aged 86, Irving received the 17th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Productions
Oklahoma! (1943)
Call Me Mister (1946)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949)
Two's Company (1952)
Can-Can (1953)
Me and Juliet (1953)
Bells Are Ringing (1956)
Shinbone Alley (1957)
Irma La Douce (1960)
Bravo Giovanni (1962)
Romulus (1962)
Tovarich (1963)
Anya (1965)
The Happy Time (1968)
An Evening With Richard Nixon and... (1972)
Irene (1973 revival)
So Long, 174th Street (1976)
Once in a Lifetime (1978 revival)
I Remember Mama (1979)
The Pirates of Penzance (1981 revival)
Copperfield (1981)
On Your Toes (1983 revival)
Me and My Girl (1986)
Busker Alley (2005)
A Wonderful Life (2005)
Promenade Off Broadway 1969
One of his most prominent non-Broadway roles was a voice-over for The Year Without a Santa Claus, in which he played the embittered Heat Miser opposite Dick Shawn's Snow Miser. He did another voice-over for Rankin-Bass as Mister Geppetto in Pinocchio's Christmas and was the narrator of the animated cartoon series Underdog, as well as the voice of Running Board on Go Go Gophers. He also voiced Captain Contagious in Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure. Irving has also narrated the popular Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Audio Books.
Irving returned to television in 2008 after an absence of more than a decade to reprise his role as Heat Miser in a new sequel to The Year Without a Santa Claus, A Miser Brothers' Christmas, which premiered on December 13, 2008, on cable's ABC Family. The show served as the network's first-ever original animated special. The production was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children by the Los Angeles Chapter of the International Animated Film Society.
Irving was familiar to television audiences of the 1970s as a result of his memorable guest-starring appearances on All in the Family as Russ DeKuyper, the loudmouthed husband of Edith Bunker's cousin Amelia. He was also a regular in the cast of the short-lived 1976 sitcom The Dumplings. Irving also did some work in commercials for White Owl Cigars in the early 1970s.
Irving was married to Maria Karnilova from 1948 until her death in 2001. They had a son, Alexander of Oceanside, California, a daughter, Katherine Irving of South Salem, New York, and three grandchildren.
Irving died in Manhattan of heart failure on December 26, 2016 at the age of 94.
The Window
George S. Irving Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
Of life that I love so
But I can see the clouds are gathering
And the storm will wreck our home
For last night he held you tightly
And you didn't even shove
This is true for I've been watching (watching you)
You must have thought that I was sleeping
And I wish that I had been
But it's guess to get to know you
And the way your heart can sin
I thought we belonged together
And our hearts fit like a glove
But I was wrong for I've been watching (watching you)
From the window up above
From my eyes the teardrops started
As I listened on and on
I heard you whisper to him softly
That our marriage was all wrong
But I hope he makes you happy
And you will never lose his love
I lost mine while I was watching (watching you)
From the window up above
How I wish I could be dreaming
And wake up to an honest love that's true
But I'm wrong for I've been watching (watching you)
From the window up above
The lyrics of George S. Irving's song "The Window" convey a heartfelt expression of betrayal and heartache as the singer observes their partner being unfaithful. The singer describes living in a new way of life that they love, only to see dark clouds gathering and anticipating a storm that will wreck their home. The sense of impending doom and sadness is palpable as the singer relates how they saw their partner being held tightly by another person the night before, a betrayal made all the more painful by the absence of any resistance from their partner.
There is a sense of helplessness and regret as the singer reveals that they had been watching from a window, unable to intervene or stop the unfolding betrayal. The imagery of watching from above implies a sense of detachment and powerlessness, as the singer is unable to directly confront the situation. The pain of realizing that their partner is capable of such betrayal is evident as the singer reflects on their belief that they belonged together and that their hearts fit like a glove, only to discover they were wrong.
The lyrics delve into the singer's emotional turmoil as they express a wish that they had been asleep and unaware of the betrayal unfolding before their eyes. The revelation of their partner's whispering about the wrongness of their marriage further intensifies the sense of heartbreak and disillusionment. Despite their pain, the singer expresses a bittersweet hope that their partner finds happiness with the other person, even as they acknowledge the loss of their own love and the shattered dreams of an honest and true love they had hoped for.
The poignant closing lines of the song convey a deep sense of longing and resignation as the singer expresses a desire to wake up to a love that is honest and true, only to realize the harsh reality of the betrayal they have witnessed. The repeated refrain of watching from above underscores the sense of being an outsider looking in on their own life, unable to change the course of events or restore what has been lost. The lyrics of "The Window" capture the painful journey of coming to terms with betrayal and the heartbreaking realization of a love that was not as honest or enduring as hoped.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, GLAD MUSIC CO., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George Jones
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@angelxo698
Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark
0:00 - The Big Toe
2:58 - High Beams
5:48 - Cold As Clay
8:23 - The Hearse Song
9:40 - Me Tie Dough-Ty Walker!
13:01 - The Hook
15:00 - Alligators
17:18 - The Slithery Dee
18:06 - Old Woman All Skin and Bone
19:56 - Room For One More
22:04 - The Dead Man's Brains
24:22 - A New Horse
27:00 - Wait Till Martin Comes
29:16 - What Do You Come For?
30:44 - Aaron Kelly's Bones
35:15 - The Viper
36:36 - The Babysitter
39:13 - A Man Who Lived In Leeds
More Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark
40:17 - Something Was Wrong
41:50 - The Wreck
43:58 - One Sunday Morning
47:18 - Sounds
49:49 - A Weird Blue Light
51:37 - Somebody Fell From Aloft
57:43 - The Little Black Dog
1:01:20 - Clinkity-Clink
1:07:46 - The Bride
1:09:23 - Rings On Her Fingers
1:11:36 - The Drum
1:17:10 - The Window
1:21:44 - Wonderful Sausage
1:24:30 - The Cat's Paw
1:26:30 - The Voice
1:27:55 - Oh, Susannah!
1:29:31 - The Man In the Middle
1:31:14 - The Cat In A Shopping Bag
1:32:58 - The Bed By the Window
1:35:26 - The Dead Man's Hand
1:37:30 - A Ghost In the Mirror
1:40:04 - The Curse
1:44:47 - The Church
1:46:55 - The Bad News
1:48:33 - Cemetery Soup
1:50:47 - The Brown Suit
1:52:04 - Ba-Rooom!
1:52:45 - Thumpity-Thump
Scary Stories 3: More Tales To Chill Your Bones
1:56:13 - The Appointment
1:57:43 - The Bus Stop
2:00:13 - Faster and Faster
2:02:23 - Just Delicious
2:05:52 - Hello, Kate!
2:07:42 - The Black Dog
2:11:34 - Footsteps
2:13:23 - Like Cats' Eyes
2:14:40 - Bess
2:17:13 - Harold
2:22:42 - The Dead Hand
2:28:32 - Such Things Happen
2:34:37 - The Wolf Girl
2:40:23 - The Dream
2:43:42 - Sam's New Pet
2:46:21 - Maybe You Will Remember
2:53:58 - The Red Spot
2:55:10 - No, Thanks
2:56:43 - The Trouble
3:08:30 - Strangers
3:09:19 - The Hog
3:11:02 - Is Something Wrong?
3:12:39 - It's Him!
3:15:20 - T-H-U-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-!
3:17:40 - You May Be the Next...
@aroseinwinter05
Where are all my fellow 90s kids/teens who grew up with this stuff? Man, I miss being 9 years old!🧡🖤❤️
@SergioLopez-vu5lv
ok me to i had the book
@RichardKeeps
I had nightmares over these when I was young
@aroseinwinter05
@@RichardKeeps lol awww💙🤗
@adammartinez376
Yes!!! Miss those days. Reading these awesome stories in my room. In the dark!! I need a time machine 🎃
@aroseinwinter05
@@adammartinez376 same! you described my childhood, too! lol chilling in my “safe place”/bedroom closet with glow stars, blanket, & flashlight. Books were always my life since age 3!💚if only we could turn back time….🙏🏻
@XYZ_is_taken
the fact this guy is also the voice of Heat Miser shows how amazing George S. Irving’s vocal range is.
@aprilmarsh2574
Is that who's reading it?
@XYZ_is_taken
@April Marsh yes
@michaelcoulter1725
That's cool I didn't know he played the Heat Miser I heard these on audiobook back in the fourth grade but I had no clue that he played the Heat Miser