George E. Stone: Movies & Box Office

George E. Stone (born Gerschon Lichtenstein; May 18, 1903 – May 26, 1967) was a Polish‑born American character actor whose career spanned the transition from silent movies to television. Born in Łódź, then part of Congress Poland in the Russian Empire, he emigrated with his family to the United States in 1913, arriving through Ellis Island with two sisters and a brother. He first gained notice as a wiry street thug called the Sewer Rat in the 1927 silent classic 7th Heaven, and his expressive face helped him survive the shift to sound with a small but memorable role in Warner Bros.’ Tenderloin (1928). Throughout the 1930s he became typecast as a sly mobster or gangland assistant, most famously playing Otero, Rico Bandello’s right‑hand man in Little Caesar (1931) and delivering a witty line in the musical hit 42nd Street (1933). His only starring role was the lead in Universal’s gangster comedy The Big Brain (1933). In 1939 Hal Roach hired him for The Housekeeper’s Daughter, where he portrayed a mentally impaired murderer with a sympathetic nuance, prompting further comic assignments such as the satirical wartime short The Devil with Hitler (1942) and the Japanese‑agent role in Little Tokyo, U.S.A. (1942). Stone is perhaps best remembered as “The Runt,” the loyal sidekick to Boston Blackie in Columbia’s long‑running series, a part he inhabited from 1941 until illness forced his departure in 1948. He also appeared in numerous ensemble films, including a brief but effective turn as “Toothpick Charlie” in Some Like It Hot (1959) and a blind beggar cameo in Frank Capra’s Pocketful of Miracles (1961). Frequent health problems—pneumonia, recurring illness, and eventual loss of vision—limited his later work, yet he continued to portray clerks, henchmen, and comic foils on television, most notably as the court clerk on Perry Mason for 44 episodes. In recognition of his contributions, Stone received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, and he remained a beloved figure among peers, especially Runyon‑inspired collaborators, until his death from a stroke in 1967.