In 2017, George Denison revived his acting and modeling career. A Portland-based fashion designer, Desi Allinger-Nelson, saw George in a photo from the ’90s that he’d done for fashion designer Hugo Boss. How would George like to come model for her brand? George didn’t think he would; his modeling days were behind him. But, she convinced him.
Soon George was doing local fashion shows — for Allinger-Nelson, the Men’s Wearhouse, Harley-Davidson apparel and a fashion line called Dead Reckoning. His style was boho — long coats, lots of color, boots — “pseudo hippie,” he said. His long hair and brooding gaze lent themselves well to the style.
“What I love about modeling,” said George, “is the ability to almost become a different person. You project this image. You want someone to look at that picture and say, ‘Wow, that tells a story.’”
Allinger-Nelson got George in on an audition — along with at least 2,000 other aspiring actors — for two television series filming in Portland. George showed up dressed all in black. The casting director picked George out of a lineup. They wanted him to play an Italian funeral mourner in the finale of the Netflix series “The Librarians.”
It was the start of a good run of small parts in indie films (watch George in “Law of Effect” from Solomon Barr Productions, he also appeared in “I Believe” from Infinite Dreams Productions); episodes of the Netflix series “Everything Sucks” and an Investigation Discovery series, “The Wonderland Murders.” Even educational films on traffic violations and landlord disputes for the Oregon Judicial Department.
“I’m a method actor,” George said. “In method acting, you leave everything about yourself behind and you become that character. I played a guy that threw somebody off the bridge. They told me at 9 a.m. that was going to be my part, and I just became that person. Maybe not the greatest person, but at least you’re able to leave your life behind.”
It’s been a fun renaissance for George. As a young man, he won an Estée Lauder contest to be the “male face of the ’90s.” That led to fashion modeling for big designers like Hugo Boss, Canali and Ralph Lauren. For a time, there was even a 4-foot-by-8-foot photo of George in Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco.
By the time he got to Oregon City in 1995, though, George’s run had slowed down. After the diversity and excitement of Silicon Valley, he hated the uniformity of Oregon City. There were a lot of ups and downs. In 2008, George found Street Roots.
“Street Roots saved me,” he said. He sold the paper 12 to 14 hours a day. He studied up on sales mentality. If somebody approaching him were tall, he’d hold the paper up a little higher. He learned that the “papal gesture” — palms out — is more welcoming.
George has had a lot of other gigs in the past couple years. He’s sold mechanical massage pillows at expos, been master of ceremonies at a celebration of Latino food and culture in Woodburn, flipped houses, done carpentry and handed out samples at supermarkets.
His favorite gig, though, is Street Roots. He sells the paper at the New Seasons on Southeast 41st Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard.
There’s some theatrics involved in selling the paper, he said. He likes to make people smile. “Street Roots. Scandal, suspense, romance, drama! And also the crossword puzzle.” Or, “Read about disaster celebrity makeovers!”
“I’ve been through so many experiences in my life,” he said. “A lot of actors are able to be good because they’ve actually lived through that experience. You have to have this feeling of what other people are about. You see people on the streets, and that’s where they choose to resurrect their lives.”
He recalls a favorite line from a song called “Bluebird of Happiness.” It goes, “The beggar and the mighty king are only different in name.”
“There’s a lot of talent and a lot of hope in those homeless camps if you just listen,” he said.
“It’s a little bit like flowers. There’s different varieties, and they’re all worthy of being celebrated. We’re all God’s different flowers, and if you study them, you’ll find something worthy,” he said.
“Celebrate everybody.”
The last year has been hard for George. He lost his cat of 18 years. He lost his fiancée. Two months ago, his dad died.
And with COVID-19, acting and modeling have slowed way down. He got cast in a Shakespeare play with a new Portland company, but that’s shut down for now. An upcoming season of “Shrill,” with Aidy Bryant of “Saturday Night Live,” was postponed. George is slated to audition early next year.
“The only good thing that’s happened in 2020 is Street Roots,” he said.
What helps give him courage are the friends he’s made over the past couple years. And another line from “The Bluebird of Happiness”:
“For every cloudy morning, there’s a midnight moon above.”
Q&A: Actor-model Mark Reay's life of glamour — and homelessness (from 2015)