George McFly
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Template:Back to the Future character
George McFly is a fictional character, a lead character in the first Back to the Future motion picture trilogy, played by actor Crispin Glover, and a minor character in the 2 sequels, played by Jeffrey Weissman. He did not appear in the animated series.
George McFly was born on April 1, 1938 in Hill Valley, California (although the novel for the first film says his birthday is August 18, the April 1 date is seen on his tombstone in Back to the Future Part II). He was the only child of Arthur and Sylvia McFly, living on Sycamore Street, and by 1985 is married to Lorraine with whom he has three kids, Dave, Linda and Marty.
George was a nerdy kid who grew up to become a nerdy wimp who was unable to stand up for himself. He had few friends at high school and probably didn't have that many afterwards. In the original timeline, George worked at an unidentified company where his supervisor was his old school bully Biff Tannen, whereas in the new timeline he writes sci-fi stories (in both timelines, he'd been writing the stories since high school). George likes watching sci-fi programmes and old shows such as The Honeymooners. He is not very "sporty" but does like playing tennis with his wife, and playing golf. His favorite beverage in 1955 was chocolate milk. The novel says that in 1955, George was very superstitious. He is a very cautious person, and not one to rush into things.
He also has a distinctive laugh.
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Pre-Back to the Future
The novel for the first Back to the Future film reveals a little bit about George's past, pre-1955 which is when we first meet him (chronologically). When he was 12, he nearly stood up for a friend, Billy Stockhausen, who was being bullied, but didn't, and has hated himself for it ever since. In 1954 he tried reading How to Win Friends and Influence People, but the advice he gained from this book made people stay away from him even more.
George was probably bullied from a very early age, not just by Biff but by other classmates such as Mark Dixon. He had been attracted to Lorraine for some time by 1955 (they may have met for the first time upon entering high school) but was too scared to ask her out.
Back to the Future
In the original timeline, George and Lorraine fell in love when Lorraine's father Sam knocked George over in his car due to George falling out of a tree into the road (he had been "birdwatching", watching Lorraine get undressed from the tree). The Baines family took George into the house and Lorraine felt sorry for him. In a "Florence Nightingale" effect, she fell in love with him and they had their first date a week later, at the Enchantment Under The Sea dance.
George and Lorraine were married by 1963 when their first child Dave was born. Linda followed in 1966 and Marty in 1968. Despite these changes, George stayed much the same as he was when he was 17. He was dominated by his now supervisor Biff, most of his colleagues, and even his neighbours, and even kept the same hairstyle for 30 years. George didn't have the courage to stand up for himself.
However, on November 5, 1955, history changed, when George's future son Marty (who had travelled back in time from 1985) pushed George out of the way of Sam Baines' car, thus changing history. Marty had a week to make sure George and Lorraine met or else he would never be born. However, George lacked the courage to ask Lorraine out, and she was more interested in Marty (not knowing who he really was). Marty tried matchmaking, to no avail, and eventually started helping George by visiting him in the night, dressed in a radiation suit and posing as an alien named Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan! "Vader" ordered George to ask Lorraine out, and the next day George asked Marty for help in doing this.
George nearly succeeded, but Biff arrived and spoilt things. AFter finding out that Lorraine wanted a man who would stand up for her and protect her, Marty came up with a plan to make Lorraine think George was that sort of man. He would pretend to "take advantage" of her at the Dance, and George would come to the "rescue". However, Biff once again turned up and spoilt things, and as his gang took Marty away he tried to make out with Lorraine. When George arrived, he *really* had to rescue her, not from Marty but from Biff! George found the courage to punch Biff and knocked him out, saving Lorraine. She fell in love with him and they had their first kiss that night.
Thanks to this incident, George became much more confident with himself and others, and his life over the next 30 years was different to the original timeline. He went to college and learnt to become a professional author. George's sci-fi stories were now published, as he was now brave enough to let other people read them, and he and Lorraine enjoy many activities together. George won't let anyone walk over him any more and will stand up for both himself and his family. He lives by the motto, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything", advise given to him by Marty.
Back to the Future Part II
By 2015, George is still happily married to Lorraine, and enjoys the odd game of golf. He had hurt his back on October 21, 2015, and was being held upside down by a harness to treat it (in reality, this was to disguise the change in actor from Glover to Weissman).
However, later in the film we discover an alternate version of history, thanks to Biff who had gone back to 1955 and given himself an almanac of sports results from the future. Biff now placed bets on results which he had the answers to, and became a millionaire. George became a campaigner against Biff's toxic waste company, Biffco, and probably was still writing in this version of history. On March 15, 1973, he shot and murdered George in an alleyway. George was buried in Oak Park Cemetary. Luckily, Marty and Doc managed to restore history and the timeline reverted to normal, revealing that on the day of his "death", George had now won an award for his writing.
Back to the Future Part III
George only had one line in this film, and he is the same character he was at the end of the first film.