George Gaynes was born George Jongejans in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire, in 1917. He performed in French and Italian operas before the Second World War. Gaynes became a U.S. citizen at a young age and quickly became one of the best-known Broadway performers during the ’40s and ’50s after the end of World War II. He made his on-screen debut as a base commander in 1963’s “PT 109”. He appeared in the stage production of “My Fair Lady” during the mid-’60s. He landed the part of Henry Warnimont on “Punky Brewster” and his other TV appearances include “Hogan’s Heroes”, “Hawaii Five-O”, “General Hospital”, “Columbo”, “Cheers”, and “Chicago Hope”. Gaynes has appeared in dozens of movies, including six “Police Academy” films and “Police Academy: The Series” as Commandant Eric Lassard. Gaynes’ other film credits include “Just Married”, “Wag the Dog”, “The Fantastic Four”, “Micki & Maude”, “To Be or Not to Be”, and “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf”. He directed a handful of episodes of “WKRP in Cincinnati”. Gaynes was married to actress Allyn Ann McLerie from 1953 until his death in 2016. They had two children together.