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George The Giant
Bakersfield's own real-life "Colossus" overcomes obstacles to make a name for himself in Hollywood

By Bakotopia Contributor Greg Goodsell


Bakersfield native George McArthur commands attention. At seven feet, four inches tall, one cranes their neck to have a conversation with him. And McArthur is big, really big, with a personality that fills the room. A literal "standup" guy, McArthur owns a home that he shares with his four-foot, 10 inch-tall wife of several years. When he isn’t working security, he tours the sideshow circuit, breathing fire, swallowing swords and devouring insects in a latter-day geek show called the "Living Feast." He stays in touch with other sideshow performers -- and proudly claims to have Enigma -- the man with an all-over body tattoo, best known for his work with the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow -- on his speed dial. More importantly, he’s landed parts in major motion pictures over the past few years.

Remember Tim Burton’s Big Fish? That 2003 film featured McArthur as Colossus, the fire-breathing circus giant. McArthur only has two scenes. He first appears bursting out of a box holding torches and breathing fire. He’s quickly upstaged by Mark (House of 1000 Corpses) McGory, who thanks to trick photography dwarfs McArthur. The second scene has a shamefaced McArthur hitching a quick ride out of the circus.


(George McArthur as "Colossus," in 2003's Big Fish)

While his screen time is very brief -- his scenes took three weeks to film due to inclement weather. And it was very profitable. McArthur won’t say how much he made, but after agents’ fees and taxes, it provided a down payment for his house.

And the scene in question did take its toll. Having worked with fire for many years, McArthur pointed out a simple fact about the dynamics surrounding the exploding box to the film’s so-called special effects experts -- who disregarded him -- and he was badly singed on his chest and face as a result. Director Tim Burton was generous to a fault in making sure that McArthur was taken of. "Burton came up to me and asked if I was OK. I kind of stated that I was a little burnt and that I would have liked to get the heck off of the stand." McArthur says the director of Beetlejuice, Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow is "very intense. When he has a scene in his head that he wants, he will pace back and forth because he knows what he wants in his head."

McArthur finished shooting Firecracker in 2004, a low-budget indie film in Kansas starring B-movie queen, Karen Black. Before Big Fish, he starred in Tough Luck with Armand Assante. How he got to this point in his life is an epic journey … as big as the man himself …

BIG BOY

McArthur had his work cut out for him early in life. "My mom always said she knew," said McArthur. "I came out as a normal-sized child. But after six months, I started to be bigger than anyone else was. So, at age eight, in third grade, I was taller than any of my teachers. I was never shorter than any of my teachers after third grade. That was my knowing that I was going to be really big."

One would think that young children would be respectful to people of stature, but McArthur is quick to point out otherwise. "If you ever watch the horror movies, they always mention that if you’re different, that people fear difference," he said. "They fear the strange, they fear anything they can’t understand themselves. Well, being really tall was one of those things. They freak out. In third grade, I was beat up by the sixth-graders, because they thought I was in sixth grade. For several years, I got the crap beat out of me, not by one person at a time, but usually two or three. The wanted to make sure that they could do it. I realized that people don’t know difference, unless they’re taught that way. So in my show, I try to teach a person that being different isn’t a bad thing. That just because someone’s bigger or shorter, whatever, you should treat them with as much respect as you would want to be treated yourself. When I listen to myself that way, I sound a little preachy in my shows, but I’m not. Because I believe in what I’m saying. I believe if we want any change in this world, we need to do it ourselves."

McArthur’s love of performing came from his mother, who was active in the Bakersfield theater. "My mom was always big in the theater, so I was doing a lot of theater at that time too. I was semi-shy, and at the same time a ‘look at me, look at me’ kid. People have a hard time believing you can be both. It’s real easy. A lot of performers are very shy once they’re away from everything. But they do want to be the center of attention at times. That’s kind of where I was. Sometimes, I was in the corner trying to not have anyone bother me."

McArthur fell in love with the sideshow at the age of 12. Enthralled by the sword swallowers and fire eaters at a local carnival, he was told by his older brother that none of it was real. McArthur was an old hand at magic tricks -- and he knew that sleight-of-hand was in effect, lying to the audience. But he knew that the sideshow, with its death-defying acts was real.

Through a process of trial and error, and asking carnival performers their secrets, McArthur taught himself how to eat fire, swallow swords as well as many other stunts. These arcane practices have put him in a more positive light with casting directors, where he sometimes wins parts for his special skills. However, McArthur has no illusions that the roles he is offered call for "big people."

BIG MAN OUT

McArthur was bitter for awhile, "and then I realized its just human nature. Because that’s the way it is. I got interviewed by Tall Magazine, that deals with the tall person lifestyle, and that was a question I was talking about to the owner of the magazine. He says a lot of people think it’s a gripe magazine. It isn’t. It’s helping the tall person find things that they’re not going to find on their own half the time, and give information that is pleasing to them. It’s not that we’re separatists, we accept everyone … Everyone helps their own group, while fitting in with everyone else."

He’s fully aware about the slings and arrows of being a giant in a normal-sized world. "You have to realize that the average size male, is six feet, two inches tall, and that’s a little on the tall side. And you’re dealing with guys that are six feet, nine inches tall; seven feet … cars aren’t built that way, because they’re for the average human being. They build vehicles and doorways for the average-sized human being. So you begin to adjust, you learn to accept. When I go to certain places, the first thing I do is duck my head. Why? There might be a ceiling fan there. Ceiling fans are usually six feet, seven inches above the ground. That being the case, I’ve already been hit once. That’s good enough! That doesn’t mean that I’m mad at them for doing that, I now know, and accept that as a given …"

McArthur realizes that his breaks in show business are not entirely due to his pretty face. And he doesn’t begrudge other exceptional people getting parts due to their being exceptional. "If an exceptional person gets a part because he has no arms and legs, that’s a job that he got. I have no problem with that. If you can get a part because of a handicap … everyone wants a specific person sometimes.

"I know a lot of little people who are upset because they aren’t considered for normal people parts. I understand that, but I can’t go in for a part meant for a little person. The script writer usually has it in their mind. The little people union is in an uproar, because casting directors say, ‘I don’t know why you wasted my time coming in here!’" It is duly noted that little people actor Herve Villechaize and Michael Dunn, in spite of their talent and range, became frustrated with the roles they were offered and later committed suicide.

"If there’s a part they want a big guy for, and a big guy is going to get it, I’m happy for them. They can hire me, I’ll take the money. People want what they want. Are there a lot of big roles for big guys? No there aren’t. I may do three auditions a year." McArthur says.

EXPLOITATION OF SPECIAL TALENTS

Since McArthur is a regular on the sideshow circuit, questions about the exploitation of very special people are invariably raised. "I have no problem. They made this big deal about the freaks, the deformed people being put on display. They were making more money than the average person. They were making more money being ‘used and abused’ than the farmer or the shopkeeper.

"In Florida, Jeb Bush passed a law against dwarf tossing. These dwarfs were making $200 a night! If you didn’t want to get tossed, you weren’t tossed! No, he’s not allowed to do that, he’s on welfare, making one-fifth the money and he’s being paid by society instead of working like he could. He is willing to work, and we say, ‘No, you’re special! You can’t work!’"

This writer asks about the exploitation of the mentally incapacitated, the sideshow performer who may not be aware of their role as performer. I ask McArthur about two of the characters in Todd Browning’s Freak (1932) such as Schlitzie, the Pinhead, a figure of subhuman intelligence, or Koo Koo the Bird Woman, a deformed woman who performed in bizarre costumes.

"A lot of them were more character than you realize. Schlitzie owned a farm at the end. Some of them were not the smartest. Koo Koo never wanted for anything. She got everything that she wanted. She got her little toys that she wanted, she got fed. She had a house; somewhere to live … She was treated better than most people."

A question McArthur is frequently asked if why he decided to join the sideshow world, traditionally thought of as a shadowy realm of calliope music and people of shady character. "A question I am frequently asked is why did I get into it? Is it just because of your height? I say when you’re someone my size you have two choices in the world, play basketball or be a freak. I hate sports!"

McArthur is friend to most genetic -- and "self-made" freaks and sideshow performers throughout the circuit. One self-made freak that McArthur only has pity for is pop singer Michael Jackson, who introduced himself after one of McArthur’s performances. He assumed that Jackson was just an East Indian woman with an unfortunate sense of fashion who was surrounded by a cadre of young boys. He points out that Jackson willingly fed the public outrageous claims about his many eccentricities and disfigured himself with plastic surgeries, only to have it all backfire on him.

For the time being, McArthur continues to live and work in Bakersfield, tending to his three dogs with his wife, with an eye towards turning them into trained performers.  He maintains a positive outlook about his future in show business.

McArthur sums up his experiences with Hollywood with an anecdote. Working on the TV show "The Strip," he asked a character actor if he was tired of being cast in Mafia roles solely on the basis of his looks. "He declared, ‘being typecast is being casted!’"

**Writer Greg Goodsell is a life long resident of Bakersfield. He has contributed many articles to regional and national publications. He's recently contributed audio commentary to B-movie flicks: "The Forest," "Schoolgirls in Chains," and "Lovely Me Deadly." He has an abjectly lousy attitude towards life.

SEE GEORGE THE GIANT'S KARNEY TRASH LIVE!
-Thursday, June 28th, 2007!
-9pm
-Fishlips, 1517 18th st. DOWNTOWN BAKO
-661-324-2557