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George Radu Metaxa (September 17, 1894 - December 8, 1950) was a Romanian born singer and actor who gained fame in the theatre in the United Kingdom and on the American stage and in film. He was known professionally initially as George Metaxa, in the United Kingdom, and later, in the United States, as Georges Metaxa. In professional biographies on him, his date of birth is given as September 11, 1899. He should not be confused with Georg von Metaxa a 1930s-era Austrian tennis player whose name was often spelled "George Metaxa" in news stories of the time.

=Biography=

Personal and Family Life
His date of birth at Bucharest, Romania is given officially, in publicity and professional releases, as September 11, 1899. However, a December 27, 1932 application for United States naturalization, applied for at New York City (Southern District, New York State, U.S. District Court) gives his date of birth as September 17, 1894. His 1932 naturalization application also gives his full name as George Radu Metaxa, with no letter "s" at the end of "George." Subsequent legal documents, later U.S. naturalization petitions, and a World War II U.S. draft registration give his full name as George Radu Metaxa and his birth date as September 17, 1894.

His parents were Nikolas Metaxa and Emilie (or, possibly Amelia) Theophilatos Metaxa, both born in what is now Romania. Nikolas Metaxa had been a judge in Romania's High Court.

His first wife, Helene (sometimes spelled "Elena") Lucia Valoary, was also born in Bucharest, Romania on February 7, 1903. They were married September 14, 1919 while still living in Romania. The December 27, 1932 U. S. citizenship application also listed a daughter for the couple, Yvonne Emilie Metaxa, born May 25, 1922 in Romania.

Prior to his coming to the United States, he, his wife and their daughter were in London, England where he was on the London stage and in touring companies of theatrical performances.

He arrived at New York from Southampton England in April 1931 aboard RMS Aquitania. Thereafter, he begin his U.S. film and stage career. His wife, Helene, and their nine year old daughter, Yvonne, arrived in June 1931 aboard RMS Mauretania (1906) at New York.

Helene filed for divorce in Cuernavaca, Mexico, with the divorce granted there August 18, 1933.

His second wife was the young Manhattan socialite and celebrity model for a New York City dress shop, Margaret M. (Peggy) Stafford, daughter of well-to-do and socially prominent Robert K. and Margaret T. Schall Stafford of New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut. In a September 1933 newspaper interview she stated was 17 years old when, in February 1933, she approached him as a fan at New York's Embassy Club, a fashionable members-only Prohibition-era nightclub where Metaxa was performing at the time. She really may have been only 16 when they first met. When they married September 6, 1933 in a civil ceremony at Greenwich, Connecticut, her father gave official consent since she was not yet 18 years old, the age of legal consent to marry in Connecticut.

Sadly, Peggy Stafford Metaxa was killed instantly in an automobile accident on a road in Broward County, Florida between Hollywood, Florida and Miami on Sunday, March 25, 1934. Georges Metaxa had been performing at a Hollywood, Florida nightclub, the Deauville Yacht Club. Police and newspaper reports state after his performance they were returning by auto to the Miami hotel where they were staying. The reports from eye witnesses state he was driving at a high rate of speed, Metaxa also reported later to police that he was blinded by the headlights of an oncoming car. He did not see a curve on the ocean-side road that night. The car went off the road and overturned, throwing both of them from the vehicle and killing Peggy. Metaxa suffered a basal skull fracture, six fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and a fractured collar bone, requiring almost a month of hospitalization at St. Francis Hospital, Miami, with his release on Friday, April 27, 1934.

The funeral for Margaret M. Stafford Metaxa was held Wednesday morning, March 28, 1934 at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church (Manhattan) at Park Avenue and 51st Street, New York City. She was reported to be expecting the couple's first child at the time of the fatal accident.

On Saturday, April 11, 1936, at Armonk, New York, Georges Metaxa was married, for a third time, to Byrnece Macfadden Muckerman, daughter of millionaire Bernarr Macfadden, a promoter of physical fitness and founder of the magazine publishing company Macfadden Publications, and his third wife, a champion British swimmer Mary Williamson Macfadden. Byrnece was the widow of wealthy investor and broker Louis I. Muckerman, who was killed in an automobile accident near Edinburg, Texas March 24, 1932, about seven months after they had married.

A July 26, 1938 petition for U.S. citizenship by George Radu Metaxa indicates his daughter, Yvonne, was residing in Romania and his first wife, Helene, nicknamed "Lulu," had married again. Helene's second husband was Count Eiler Moltke. By 1938, they were all residing at 53 Strada Popa in Bucharest, Romania.

In the summer of 1941, Byrnece learned her marriage to Metaxa had been ruled invalid by U.S. immigration authorities when, in 1938, his application for U.S. citizenship was being reviewed. The ruling was made because his 1933 Mexican divorce from first wife Helene was considered a "mail order divorce", with neither party appearing in person in court in Mexico to finalize the proceedings, meaning it was not considered a legal divorce by U.S. immigration authorities. Soon after learning about her invalidated marriage, which had been going on for about 5 years and which technically made Georges a bigamist, she sought an annulment.

His fourth wife was Swedish-born Margareta (also known as Margaret) Broström van Kuylen, a socialite and a member of the wealthy Broström shipping family from Göteborg (Gothenberg, Sweden). They married November 18, 1945 at Beverly Hills, California. She had been divorced from first husband Karl Krister Viktor Alexander Kuylenstierna in 1944.

Georges had suffered from heart disease for a while, suffering a heart attack in May 1946, which resulted in hospitalization. In October 1947 his doctor deemed him too ill, with the negative effects of his heart ailment, to allow him to attend a court hearing on his most recent petition for U.S. citizenship, made October 21, 1944.

Metaxa made a fourth petition for U.S. citizenship October 21, 1947. In that petition, he noted his daughter, Yvonne Metaxa Serdici was residing in Romania.

Metaxa's major challenge in being granted U.S. citizenship revolved around the divorce with his first wife, Helene. From the words of a December 1, 1938 written opinion by a District Director of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Metaxa had not established ". . .good moral character. . ." and therefore ". . .objection [was] made to the granting of the petition for naturalization. . . " The key statement in the document is: The United States of America hereby opposes the granting of citizenship to the petitioner above named [George Radu Metaxa] on the ground that the petitioner is unable to establish good moral character and attachment to the principles of the Constitution of the United States in that the petitioner obtained a Mexican divorce on August 18, 1933 and subsequent thereto remarried and is, therefore, living with a     woman to whom he is not lawfully wed, the divorce obtained in Mexico being invalid (Alzman vs Maher,      231 App. Div. 139, 246, N.Y.S. 60). His fourth petition for U.S. citizenship, in 1947, was approved on March 26, 1948 as was wife Maragreta's U.S. citizenship petition.

In 1950, he and Margareta went on a seven-month trip to various parts of Europe. After arriving from their lengthy trip at the Port of New York aboard the SS Liberté on November 10, 1950, the couple began their return home to Beverly Hills, California by automobile. En route, they stopped at a Monroe, Louisiana hotel, where Metaxa suffered a fatal heart attack on Friday December 8, 1950.

His body was sent by Hixson Brothers Funeral Home, Monroe, Louisiana to Dallas, Texas, where it was cremated Monday, December 11, 1950. His widow chose Dallas for his funeral service and cremation because she had friends living there.

Wives and Child
Metaxa was married four times, with only one known child, a daughter.

His wives:
 * Helene (Elena) Lucia Valoary, nickname "Lulu", born: February 7, Bucharest, Romania; married September 14, 1919 ; divorced August 18, 1933, Cuernavaca, Mexico, considered a "mail order divorce" by U.S. immigration officials, and therefore not considered legal for U.S. citizenship application purposes; married Count Eiler Moltke and resided in Romania afterward
 * Margaret M. "Peggy" Stafford, born about June or July 1916, Connecticut; died March 26, 1934, Broward County, Florida ; married: Wednesday, September 6, 1933, Greenwich, Connecticut
 * Byrnece Macfadden Muckerman, maiden name: Macfadden, born: December 26, 1913, Brighton, Sussex, England, United Kingdom ; married April 11, 1936, Armonk, New York ; marriage annulled 1942 ; died: February 23, 1981, Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida
 * Margareta (Margaret) Mathida Louise Broström van Kuylen, maiden name: Broström, born: July 8, 1917, Saro, Halland, Sweden; married November 18, 1945, Beverly Hills, California; married again after the death of Georges: Carl Edmar Moseby; died: April 12, 1967, Rome, Italy

His daughter:
 * Yvonne Emilie Metaxa, married surname: Serdici, born: May 25, 1922, Romania

Romania
As a young man in Romania, Metaxa attended the University of Bucharest with the intent of becoming a lawyer. However, World War I hostilities intervened and he took up arms for his country as an artillery officer. According to the May 29, 1932 New York Times biographical sketch about Metaxa, when the war was over, he entered Romanian government service, joining the Romanian Bureau of Agriculture as a "chef de cabinet," the chief private secretary to the Agriculture Minister.

Apparently, as the May 29, 1932 New York Times biographical sketch explained, there was a social event thrown by the head of the government department in which Metaxa served. The host asked Metaxa to sing, since he had a pleasing tenor voice. One of those at the reception knew an opera singer, Madame Louise Edvina, then in Vienna, Austria, was seeking a tenor to sing opposite to her in a production of the operetta Dor Orloff.

London
Metaxa was hired for Dor Orloff and had his debut on the London stage, with the production renamed Hearts and Diamonds June 1, 1926 at the Strand Theatre. In the United Kingdom he was known professionally as George Metaxa. He played Alex Dorotchinsky. The musical production was not a success with audiences, running for only 46 performances. Metaxa caught the attention of Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár and was signed for a starring role as Prince Olinski in Lehár's 1927 London production of The Blue Mazurka.

While in London, Metaxa recorded a number of popular songs. He had a clear tenor voice, which was sometimes called a "high baritone." His first was Mandrullita (1926, His Master's Voice/HMV label), a Romanian folk song on the B-side of the 78 rpm recording, with Ideale, also sung by Metaxa, on the A-side. Some of his recorded songs were ones he made popular in the London shows in which he played.

Next, opening October 12, 1927, Metaxa played a lead in the musical revueThe Bow-Wows at the London West End Prince of Wales Theatre. The show played for 124 performances. Two of Metaxa's songs in the show were the waltz, C'est Vous (It's You), and Just Like a Butterfly (That's Caught in the Rain).

Metaxa's next role was in the 1928 London West End Shaftesbury Theatre production of the musical show Will o' the Whispers. The show opened April 4, 1928 and closed June 2, 1928.

After that, Charles B. Cochran, better known as C. B. Cochran, signed Metaxa for Charles B. Cochran's 1929 Revue, later renamed Wake Up and Dream, a musical revue with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a well-known cast. It opened March 27, 1929 at the London Pavilion, running for 263 performances. Critics' reviews on the production were mixed. As the tenor lead, Metaxa sang the title song in the operetta. He also recorded Wake Up and Dream, and What Is This Thing Called Love? from the show on the HMV label.

At the Derby Ball held in June 1929 at The May Fair hotel, London, where the special guest of honor was the Prince of Wales, George Metaxa was one of the cabaret acts engaged for entertainment of the guests.

Noël Coward's Bitter Sweet, produced by C. B. Cochran, which opened at the Palace Theatre, Manchester July 2, 1929 for a try-out and premiered in London July 18, 1929 at His Majesty's Theatre, gave Metaxa a starring role as the handsome Viennese musician/music teacher Carl Linden, the male romantic lead, who runs off with a previously engaged English heiress to his home city of Vienna, Austria. The operetta was popular, running for 673 performances at His Majesty's Theatre and more performances at other London theaters for a total of 697 performances. Metaxa was featured in the solo If You Could Only Come With Me, and the duets I'll See You Again, Evermore and a Day, and Dear Little Café with the show's leading lady, Peggy Wood, playing Sarah Millick, the woman he ran away with and married. The duet I'll See You Again, a waltz, by Metaxa and Wood, with If You Could Only Come With Me sung by Metaxa leading off the production, and Dear Little Café on the other side, was recorded in 1929 by His Master's Voice (HMV.) In 1930, the motion picture production company Pathé came out with a silent film of the London stage production of Bitter Sweet, with random clips of the stage action spliced together and recorded music added. The Pathé film is probably Metaxa's first motion picture appearance.

1930s
After Bitter Sweet in London, Georges Metaxa (as he chose to be known in the United States) was enticed to relocate to the United States with a Paramount Pictures contract, arriving at New York in April 1931. Because of his resemblance to Rudolf Valentino, there had been talk of Paramount casting him in a remake of the film The Sheik, made famous in 1921 by Valentino, but that idea was scrapped. He made his sound film debut in the 1931 Paramount Pictures film Secrets of a Secretary, starring Claudette Colbert and Herbert Marshall in September. His character in the film was Frank D'Agnoll, the fortune-hunting, jewelry-stealing, gigolo husband of Colbert's character, the social secretary of the movie title. He sang Ay Ay Ay (song) and danced with Claudette Colbert to Cielito Lindo in the film.

His New York Broadway stage debut in the Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach romantic musical comedy The Cat and the Fiddle (musical), produced by Max Gordon (producer) was on October 15, 1931 at the Globe Theatre. The successful show moved to George M. Cohan's Theater May 24, 1932 and had a total run of 395 performances, closing September 24, 1932, which was excellent for the Great Depression era. The story, set in Brussels, Belgium, had Metaxa cast as Victor Florescu, a Romanian composer of serious, operatic music, in love with American jazz composer, Shirley Sheridan, played by Bettina Hall. His vocal performances in the show included his solos The Breeze Kissed Your Hair and A New Love is Old, as well as the reprise of She Didn't Say Yes with cast members Hall and George Meader.

During 1932, Metaxa participated in a number of benefit performances to raise money for charitable causes, including a May 15 concert at the Lyceum Theatre (Broadway) to benefit the Actors' Dinner Club, an organization which provided free meals at the Hotel Woodstock, New York City, for performers down on their luck during the Great Depression in the 1930s; the May 22 Press Agents' Show at the New Amsterdam Theatre to benefit the emergency relief fund of the Theatrical Press Representatives of America;

In 1933, Metaxa starred in the short-lived farce Twenty-five Dollars an Hour ($25 an Hour). He played Claude de Rozay, a man who had hoped for an operatic singing career, by his stage fright, who instead was a voice teacher to New York women with little musical talent. His women clients appreciated him more for his good looks and charm. He starred with Olga Baclanova as his jealous mistress, Germaine Granville, and Jean Arthur as Lucy, the young beauty Germaine hired to spy on Claude while she has gone to Paris. Philadelphia's Garick Theatre was the location for the show's try-out. The show received a good review there. However, prior to taking the show to New York, emphasis of the story was changed to romance and sex, with the farcical tone de-emphasised. At New York's Masque Theater (also known as the Theatre Masque) the show ran for only 22 performances, opening on May 10, 1933.

Later in 1933, Georges was cast as Lieutenant Juan Segovia, an officer of a military rebel group in a Latin American country, in the Warner Brothers Vitaphone (#7512) Broadway Brevities series romantic musical film short Kissing Time, which was released December 16, 1933. Popular radio songstress Jane Froman played visiting American, Miss Sullivan, the female romantic lead, opposite Metaxa. The story, set in a Latin American country with rebellion going on, involved a general who captured American tourists and their car, and a legend about a bell ringing when anyone stole a kiss. Lt. Segovia wanted to save Miss Sullivan and to steal a kiss from her. In the film, Metaxa sang Let's Drink and the duet All My Life I've Waited (for Someone Like You) with Jane Froman.

Throughout 1933, Metaxa performed in several stage productions, including one during February opposite Mae West at the Paramount Theatre (New York City) as part of Miss West's promotion of her film She Done Him Wrong between the showings of the film. He also performed at Philadelphia's Fox Theatre in July, starring in productions of The Cat and the Fiddle and $25 an Hour. He was also on the bill of several top New York City and vicinity nightclubs and cabarets, including the Embassy Club, the El Garron, the Central Park Casino, which was a restaurant-nightclub only and not in the gambling business, and Ross Fenton Farm, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, which had an illegal gambling casino.

In late 1933 Georges Metaxa was included in the cast of Ziegfeld Follies of 1933, presented by Florenz Ziegfeld's widow, Billie Burke and produced by the Shuberts (The Shubert Organization). However, in early December, during the out of town try-out run, he withdrew from the cast after only four weeks.

After ending his contract with the Ziegfeld Follies at the end of 1933, Metaxa started 1934 with nightclub engagements. January saw him singing at one of the New York nightclubs where he was often booked, the Central Park Casino. In February 1934 he was booked at New York City's trendy El Morocco. . March took him to Florida for a booking at Miami's Embassy Club. Later in March, he started performing in Hollywood, Florida at the Deauville Yacht Club. He and his second wife, Peggy, were returning to their hotel in Miami from his Sunday, March 25 performance when the car accident causing Peggy's death occurred.

Georges Metaxa recovered from the injuries he sustained in the car crash which killed his wife, resuming his New York City nightclub engagements at the Central Park Casino, beginning in September, 1934.

In 1934 he was also cast in the Howard Dietz / Arthur Schwartz Broadway musical comedy Revenge with Music. The production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre November 28, 1934, played for 158 performances, and closed April 27, 1935, with a brief closure from December 15, 1934 until December 24, 1934 to permit one of the leads, Charles Winninger, recover from a broken ankle so that he could return to his role without having to use crutches. The story, set in 1800 Andalusia, Spain, is about seductions, with Charles Winninger playing Don Emilio, the Spanish governor, Ilka Chase as Don Emilio's wife, Doña Isabella, and Libby Holman as Maria, the young, newly-wed wife of Carlos, a miller, played by Metaxa. Carlos seeks revenge on Don Emilio for his attempt at seducing his unwilling new bride Maria on their wedding night by seducing the willing Doña Isabella. . .with music. Critics loved the music and the show's production values, despite the old-fashioned plot. Two songs from the show, which became popular, If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You and You and the Night and the Music were sung by Metaxa.

A 30 minute condensed version of Revenge with Music was presented on New York City radio station WABC (AM) in December 1934, with Georges Metaxa singing the songs he popularized from the stage production.

In 1935, Metaxa performed on and off at New York City's Stork Club nightclub, Restaurant La Rue, and the House of Morgan, named for singer Helen Morgan who, at one time, ran earlier New York City speakeasies (not to be confused with the banking establishment known as the House of Morgan, J.P. Morgan & Co.)    During part of the 1935 summer horse racing season at Saratoga Springs, New York, he performed at the Piping Rock Club, one of the Saratoga lake houses. Starting in September of that year, he was also a regular on the radio station WEAF (later to take the new call letters WNBC, 660kHz AM) on Sunday nights in the Manhattan Merry-Go-Round program, sponsored by Dr. Lyons Tooth Powder (R. L. Watkins Co.).

Professionally, Metaxa began 1936 continuing as a regular in the cast of the NBC radio program, Manhattan Merry-Go-Round. February 1936 brought Metaxa a brief stint performing at the Patio nightclub in Palm Beach, Florida. After Palm Beach, Metaxa joined comedian Jack Benny's touring stage company for four weeks, starting at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh and ending in early April at the State Theatre (Cleveland, Ohio). He left Jack Benny for a prior commitment to perform at the Hotel St. Regis in New York City.

1936 brought Georges Metaxa national fame in the RKO Pictures film Swing Time with the ever-popular dancing and singing duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the starring roles. Metaxa was signed to RKO in May, 1936 for a role in the film when the working title was still Never Gonna Dance. Metaxa played Ricardo Romero, a band leader and the romantic rival to Fred Astaire's character, John "Lucky" Garnett, for the affections of Ginger Rogers' character, Penelope "Penny" Carroll. In the film Metaxa sang a reprise of the song The Way You Look Tonight and part of the reprise of A Fine Romance (song). The film premiered in New York City Thursday, August 27, 1936 at Radio City Music Hall and was released nationally Friday, September 4, 1936.

1940s
The Doctor Takes a Wife

Throughout his career in the United States Metaxa performed on radio and appeared in a a number of different stage performances to benefit charitable organiztions.

=Filmography=

=Discography= This is not a complete list of all his recordings.

=Notes=

=References=

=External links=

Category:Actors Category:Singers Category:1950s deaths Category:1894 births Category:1899 births Category:Romanian people Category:20th-century American male actors