George also directed many plays including Antony and Cleopatra and A Man For All Seasons, Richard III, Autumn Crocus, The Merchant of Venice, The Chairs and The Persians, The Boy Friend and The Heiress and The Stirrings in Sheffield on Saturday Night.
In 1958, George joined the Nottingham Playhouse as Assistant Director to Val May, where he was a driving force in bringing work by new playwrights to the theatre, including Arnold Wesker, John Osborne and Harold Pinter.
He also worked in London, creating the role of Jack Lucas in Keith Waterhouse & Willis Hall’s ‘Celebration’ at the Duchess Theatre (1961), and directing Paul Daneman in ‘Richard III’ at the Old Vic (1962).
He worked closely with the theatre director Sir Tyrone Guthrie and designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch to create a radical thrust stage auditorium.
[3] One month after leaving the Crucible, in August 1974 George appeared in ten episodes of Coronation Street as Jimmy Graham, Rita Littlewood’s love interest.
The story of a married man having an affair with one of the show’s stars stirred up so much interest in the press that he was one of the first actors in England to be harassed by Corrie fans who were outraged by his on-screen behaviour.
In 1975, George took up the post of Head of Drama at the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, and the following year was offered the artistic directorship of the Adelaide State Theatre Company, which he ran from 1976–80.
[4] While at Adelaide, George directed some of the rising generation of Australian actors, among them Judy Davis, Colin Friels, Mel Gibson and Michael Siberry, as well as a production of ‘Oedipus’ (1978) designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch.
George also acted in touring shows, playing the roles of Polonius and the Gravedigger in Hamlet with the Oxford Stage Company in 1996 and Underwood in Alan Bennett's The Lady and the Van at the Birmingham Rep in 2000–01.
In 2011 George was invited by the Artistic Director of the Crucible Theatre, Daniel Evans, to join the company for the 40th anniversary production of Othello, in which he played the roles of Brabantio and Gratiano.