Books, Arts & Manners: Ugly George Talks about TV

I met Ugly George in 1982, when Playboy asked me to do a feature piece about him. At that time His Ugliness, if you remember, was cruising New York, portable video camera on one shoulder. With just this low-budget inducement he would persuade women to strip naked—in alleys and “dimly lit” hallways, no less. For some reason, four hundred women went along with it. George then replayed both pickups and misses on his public-access cable TV show, which had a viewership of 300,000 in Manhattan (about what Johnny Carson had). After several vicious legal battles, Manhattan Cable kicked him off.

Since 1982, George has had a brutal time of it. Scorned and ignored by the entertainment establishment (and by anyone who had even nominal couth), he slept on subways and, for some while, went into severe depression. Yet, with a hard-headedness that was, one might say, courageous, George (who is politically conservative) never quit on his peculiar vision. And, indeed, he would remain—here and abroad—something of a folk anti-hero. I daresay no other homeless man has appeared with Phil Donahue and Morton Downey in the same week.

DK

About the Author

D. Keith Mano

D. Keith Mano was a TV screenwriter and author of ten books, including Take 5, recipient of the 1987 Literary Lion award, and columnist at National Review magazine for 17 years.

Featured Tags

I met Ugly George in 1982, when Playboy asked me to do a feature piece about him. At that time His Ugliness, if you remember, was cruising New York, portable video camera on one shoulder. With just this low-budget inducement he would persuade women to strip naked—in alleys and “dimly lit” hallways, no less. For some reason, four hundred women went along with it. George then replayed both pickups and misses on his public-access cable TV show, which had a viewership of 300,000 in Manhattan (about what Johnny Carson had). After several vicious legal battles, Manhattan Cable kicked him off.

Since 1982, George has had a brutal time of it. Scorned and ignored by the entertainment establishment (and by anyone who had even nominal couth), he slept on subways and, for some while, went into severe depression. Yet, with a hard-headedness that was, one might say, courageous, George (who is politically conservative) never quit on his peculiar vision. And, indeed, he would remain—here and abroad—something of a folk anti-hero. I daresay no other homeless man has appeared with Phil Donahue and Morton Downey in the same week.

DK

About the Author

D. Keith Mano

D. Keith Mano was a TV screenwriter and author of ten books, including Take 5, recipient of the 1987 Literary Lion award, and columnist at National Review magazine for 17 years.