FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE: George Nader as JERRY COTTON

GEORGE NADER as FBI Agent Jerry Cotton.  Starting in the 1960s, a series of eight films based on the Cotton novels were made, the first four in black-and-white, the last four in color.  The character of Jerry Cotton was played by American actor George Nader, and his companion Phil Decker was played by the German actor Heinz Weiss.  The film's music was composed by Peter Thomas including the "Jerry Cotton March," that also was released on a soundtrack-single.

Jerry Cotton appears in a series of crime novels by many different writers in German-speaking countries and in Finland.  The novels center around the adventures of FBI agent Jerry Cotton, which take place in and around New York City.  In 1954 the first novel appeared as no. 68: "Ich suchte den Gangster-Chef" (I Sought the Gang Boss) in the series "Bastei Kriminalroman".  The pseudonym "Jerry Cotton" was developed in 1956 and the first novella with this name on the front-page appeared with the title "Ich jagte den Diamanten-Hai" (I hunted the Diamond Shark).  In 2005 the series reached the 2500th edition, "Expenditure". Total circulation about 850 million.  A group of over 100 authors write for the magazines, sold in many kiosks and over newsagents.  Rolf Kalmuczak, who is the major author behind this name, made the TKKG series famous as Stefan Wolf.  One could summarise the motto of the series as "Crime without Sex", as women arise as characters only once in a while. Important figures of the series include, besides Cotton, his partner Phil Decker, FBI-chief John D. High, Annie Geraldo, Zeerookah, June Clark, Roby O'Hara, Myrna, Windermeere and his Smith & Wesson, a 38 Caliber Smith & Wesson Special. Jerry Cotton drives a red Jaguar E-type, built in 1966.

JERRY COTTON FILMS:

01. Mordnacht in Manhattan / Manhattan Night of Murder (1965)
02. Schüsse aus dem Geigengasten (1965)
03. Die Rechnung - eiskalt serviert (1966)
04. Um Null Uhr schnappt die Falle zu (1966)
05. Der Mörderclub von Brooklyn (1967)
06. Tod im Roten Jaguar (1968)
07. Dynamit in grüner Seide (1968)
08. Todesschüsse am Broadway (1969)

George Nader (October 19, 1921 – February 4, 2002) was an American film and television actor. He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 through 1974, including Phone Call from a Stranger (1952), Congo Crossing (1956), and The Female Animal (1957). During this period, he also did episodic television and starred in several series, including the unique NBC adventure offering, The Man and the Challenge (1959–60). However, his best-remembered role may have been as "Roy", the hero who saves the world from the clutches of "Ro-man" in the low-budget 3-D sci-fi film Robot Monster (1953).

 

In the mid-1950s, rumors about Nader's homosexuality began to surface. Nader's life partner was Mark Miller, who later worked as Rock Hudson's personal secretary for 13 years.  When Nader's career in Hollywood ended, he and Miller moved to Europe, where he found steady work in films.  His most notable role during this period was as FBI agent "Jerry Cotton" in a German film series where he became the number two most popular film star in Germany behind Lex Barker.

In the mid-1970s, Nader suffered an eye injury which made him particularly sensitive to the bright lights of movie sets. According to an interview with the German fanzine Splatting Image his eye injury was the result of an accident during the production of the never released movie Zigzag, when a blank pistol round exploded too early next to his eyes. Filming took place in the Philippines, and no adequate treatment was taken in time, resulting in the partial loss of his eyesight.

He inherited the interest from Rock Hudson's estate after Hudson's death from AIDS complications in 1985.  Hudson biographer Sara Davidson, described Nader, Miller, and another person as "Rock's family for most of his adult life."  Nader publicly acknowledged his sexual orientation shortly afterward.  After damage to his eye made it difficult to endure an acting career, Nader began a career as a writer of science fiction, including his 1978 novel Chrome, which centered around a love affair between two men.  According to Variety Magazine's Army Archerd, Nader had completed a book called The Perils of Paul, about the gay community in Hollywood, which he did not want published until after his death.

In 2002, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.  Nader and Miller eventually returned to the U.S. and settled in Palm Springs.  Stricken by multiple medical problems, Nader entered the hospital in September 2001.  He died at Woodland Hills, California of cardiac-pulmonary failure, pneumonia, and multiple cerebral infarctions.  Nader and Miller spent 55 years together.  His ashes were scattered at sea, but his cenotaph exists in Cathedral City's Forest Lawn Cemetery.

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