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Mission Impossible's Lynda Day George didn't want her son in show business
She shared her calling with her husband, but not her firstborn.
There's no business like show business, especially when it comes to ruining lives. Sure, there's the chance that it'll make your dreams come true, but show biz could also bring it all crashing down around you. It's a risk unlike any other. At least doctors can always fall back on their education, you know?
One actor who was familiar with the perils of fame was Mission: Impossible's Lynda Day George. Not only was she the star of one of the hottest spy shows of her day, but she was also married to an actor, Christopher George, famous for his role in the show Rat Patrol.
While the couple made their living in Hollywood, they did not want to pass the family business down to their son. In a 1971 interview with the Daily News-Post, Lynda Day George made it clear that she did not want her firstborn to follow in their footsteps.
"I resist the idea that Nicky wants to be in show business," she said, "therefore I've established one very firm rule and that is that Nicky will not be able to go into show business until he can explain to me what he thinks it really is all about."
For a family who could afford their lifestyle based on the money they made from appearing in television shows, the Georges had a very unique and candid outlook on the entertainment world around them.
Lynda explained, "Show business is tricky. It can develop an unhealthy ego. And it takes a mature mind to cope with it, to continue to differentiate between fantasy and reality. When a performer can separate himself from his job, to be himself, then he has mastered a very important part of his job."
The Georges must have been onto something. While Hollywood can ruin even the strongest relationships, the pair were married for thirteen years before Christopher George passed away in 1983. The actress stepped away from the limelight in the 1980s. Her last television role was a guest appearance in the Mission: Impossible sequel series episode "Reprisal" from 1989.
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