| George McFly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Age | 17 (in 1955) and 47 (in 1985) |
| Status | Alive |
| Family | Lorraine Baines-McFly (wife) Dave McFly (son) |
| Eye Color | Blue |
| Hair Color | Brown |
| Portrayed By | Crispin Glover |
George Douglas McFly is s the father of Dave, Linda, and Marty McFly, and the husband of Lorraine Baines-McFly. He was of Irish-American ancestry as his paternal great-grandparents Seamus and Maggie McFly had emigrated from Ireland prior to 1885.
George McFly was born on April 1, 1938 in Hill Valley, California. He was the only child of Arthur McFly and his Canadian-born wife Sylvia Miskin, who were living on Sycamore Street as of 1955. In the original timeline, his parents were married in 1936. He was also the grandson of William McFly, the first member of the McFly family to be born in the United States. By 1985, he had been married to Lorraine for over 20 years and they had three children: Dave, Linda and Marty.
George was an insecure boy 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 did not have that many afterward. 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 wrote sci-fi stories (in both timelines, he'd been writing the stories since high school). George liked watching sci-fi programs and old shows such as The Honeymooners and Science Fiction Theatre. He was not very "sporty" but did like playing tennis with his wife, and playing golf. His favorite beverage in 1955 was chocolate milk. He was a very cautious person, and not one to rush into things. George was very superstitious and he also had a distinctive laugh.
Early Life[]
When he was 12, he nearly stood up for a friend, Billy Stockhausen, who was being bullied, but did not, 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[]
Inside, Marty's father George McFly is arguing with his supervisor Biff Tannen. Biff is exasperated that George loaned him a car without warning him that it had a blind spot, leading him to have a head-on collision with another vehicle. George insists that he never knew the car had a blind spot. He sees Marty and gives him a weak greeting, as Biff demands to know who is going to pay for his cleaning bill, seeing as he spilled beer all over his coattails. Biff then asks George if he's finished filling out Biff's reports. When George admits he hasn't done them yet, an annoyed Biff taps him several times on the head, reminding George that he needs time to retype them because he'll be fired if he hands in his reports in George's handwriting. He expresses despair that all they've got in the fridge is "light" beer, and helps himself to a beer before leaving. After Biff leaves, George hesitantly admits to Marty that he isn't good at confrontations. Marty asks about the car, which he had been planning to drive up to the lake with Jennifer. George apologizes.
George getting picked on by Biff Tannen in 1985
The whole of the McFly family later sits down to dinner - George, his wife Lorraine, and their children Marty, Dave and Linda. Lorraine drops a thin cake onto the table. It says 'Welcome Home, Joey', next to a picture of a bird flying out of jail. Uncle 'Jailbird' Joey has failed to make parole, again. Linda chides that he's an embarrassment to the family. Lorraine reminds her that everyone makes mistakes in life.
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George, aged 47, in 1985 before the history was changed
Having enough of the conversation, Dave leaves for his job as a Burger King cashier, while Linda tells Marty that Jennifer called asking for him. This upsets Lorraine, who lectures Marty that 'any girl who calls a boy is just asking for trouble.' When Linda tries to defend Marty, Lorraine grows upset, insisting that when she was Linda's age she never 'chased a boy, or called a boy, or sat in a parked car with a boy.' Linda asks how she's supposed to meet anyone if she is to go through life like Lorraine did. Lorraine explains that it will happen just like she met George. Linda rolls her eyes, as Lorraine once again relates the story of how they met: supposedly, George was up in a tree (just what he was doing, George has never explained), when he slipped, fell into the street and was hit by Lorraine's father's car. After taking him inside, and taking care of him, Lorraine felt sorry enough for George that she asked him to the Enchantment Under The Sea dance, which happened to be the same night the lightning bolt struck the clock tower. When they had their first kiss at the dance, she knew she was going to spend the rest of her life with him.
In 1955 (Altered History)[]
After Lou Caruthers sets a coffee cup down in front of Marty, we now notice that the customer Marty is sitting next to is his future father. Just then, the doors fly open and in walks Biff and his friends Match, Skinhead and 3-D, who have come to harass George. It turns out that Biff has been forcing George to do his homework, something George has been slacking off on. When George admits that he hasn't completed Biff's homework, figuring that it is not due until Monday, Biff gets annoyed, and raps George on the head, reminding George that he will get expelled if he hands in his homework in George's handwriting. George finally agrees to finish up Biff's work and hand it over the next day, and Biff and his friends leave.
George getting bullied by a young Biff
After Biff and his friends leave, the diner's busboy, Goldie Wilson, chides George for letting Biff harass him all day. George insists that Biff is bigger than him, while Goldie points out that he doesn't expect to spend the rest of his own life working as a busboy, and he plans on becoming someone famous one day. Marty immediately recognizes Goldie and before realizing it, blurts out to Goldie that he's going to be mayor in 1985. This plants the idea in Goldie's mind and he begins to think about how as mayor of Hill Valley, and how he will clean up the town (to which Lou responds by giving him a broom and telling him to start sweeping the floor).
George, 17, in 1955
After George leaves the diner, Marty's curiosity is piqued and he follows him into another neighborhood. He momentarily loses track of him until he finds George's bike parked beneath a tree. He looks up and notices George on a tree branch, using a pair of binoculars to spy on a girl getting undressed in her bedroom across the street -- Marty is shocked to find that George is a Peeping Tom.
George falling from the tree
As he strains to get a better look, George suddenly slips and falls out of the tree, landing in the street in front of an oncoming Cadillac. Marty instinctively rushes out and pushes George out of harm's way. The car slams on its brakes, but it hits Marty, who hits his head on the pavement and is knocked unconscious. George gets on his bike and rides away as Sam Baines, the driver, yells to his wife that another kid has jumped in front of his car.
Altered History - Instead of George getting hit by the car, Marty interferes and gets hit instead
Dr. Emmett Brown takes Marty to the high school the next morning. Marty is amazed to find that there is no graffiti on the building, unlike in 1985. After peeping through a classroom window and watching Lorraine cheating on a test, they spot George in the hallway during a passing period, seeing him being picked on (in part because of the large "KICK ME" note taped to his back). George is further demoralized when Strickland (who in 1955 is down to his last dregs of hair) appears and tells him he's a slacker. Doc is baffled that Lorraine could fall in love with someone like George, and Marty admits that his best guess is she originally felt sorry for him after her dad nearly killed him. Doc recognizes their relationship as a version of the Florence Nightingale effect, which happens when nurses develop romantic feelings for their patients.
George after being tormented by a group of boys kicking his back in the hallway
Marty tries encouraging George to talk to Lorraine, however, an attempt to simply introduce them to each other fails because Lorraine is already smitten with Marty. Doc finds that the situation is more serious than they'd thought; George lacks the self-confidence to ask Lorraine out, as he fears that he couldn't handle a rejection if she said "no", and getting them together permanently could be impossible. Over lunch, Marty tries again to convince George by saying Lorraine has been talking about him and that he should ask her to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. George spends his lunch by himself writing science fiction short stories. Marty asks to read one of them and George refuses, saying he's afraid people would be critical. He also suggests that Lorraine may want to go with someone else to the dance, namely Biff, who we see is across the cafeteria, sitting with Lorraine and trying to grope her. Marty immediately marches over to them and pulls the much larger Biff off his mother. Biff begins pushing Marty, however, Marty, unlike his meek father, begins pushing back and is about to fight Biff when Strickland breaks it up.
George talking to Marty in the cafeteria at school
Marty follows George home and begins pleading with George to ask Lorraine out. George continues to refuse and tells Marty that no one in the world will make him change his mind. That night, Marty sneaks into George's room in his radiation suit, places his Walkman headphones on George and gives him a blast of ear-splitting Eddie Van Halen guitar riffing. Marty claims he is Darth Vader, an extraterrestrial from the planet Vulcan, and intimidates George into asking Lorraine out, threatening him with a "brain melting gun" (actually a hairdryer). To keep George from calling for his parents, Marty chloroforms him, before jumping out the window and into Doc's car.
George waking up with headphones on as a blast of ear-splitting Eddie Van Halen guitar riffing set by Marty
The next day, George rushes up to Marty at the Texaco station, disheveled and frantic, having overslept, while Marty is trying to open a Pepsi -- George pops it open with the bottle hook on the machine. George knows he needs to ask Lorraine out but he doesn't know what he should say. Marty takes George back to Lou's diner, where Lorraine is hanging out with her friends. Marty suggests to George that he tell Lorraine, "Destiny has brought me to you." George orders a chocolate milkshake to calm his nerves before approaching Lorraine. It gets off to a shaky start when, in a fit of nervousness, George accidentally mangles the lines Marty gave him.
Though Lorraine seems charmed by him, George's attempt comes to a grinding halt when Biff and his friends come in to toss him out. As Biff demands money from George, Marty, sitting at the counter, "accidentally" trips Biff. Biff turns his anger on Marty, and is about to punch him when Marty tricks him into looking away, giving Marty the opportunity to shove Biff and bolt out the door.
"I'm you 'density'"
Marty suddenly sees a way to get George to win Lorraine's heart. Marty approaches George while George is doing his parents' laundry, and tells him to find him with Lorraine in Doc's car in the school parking lot at a certain time, where Marty plans to appear to "take advantage" of her, which he believes will make her angry. George is to pull Marty out of the car and pretend to beat him up, proving that he's the bigger man.
The night of the dance arrives. George is already there, in a tux, waiting for his cue, as the all-black band known as the Marvin Berry and the Starlighters performs on the stage.
George thinking it's Marty (actually Biff)
George arrives at Doc's car, opens the door as planned, and delivers the lines Marty told him, but is taken off-guard realizing that he is not only dealing with Biff, but his "rescue" is now the real deal. He takes a half-hearted punch at Biff, who grabs his arm and begins to twist it. When Biff roughly pushes a pleading Lorraine off and begins laughing, George summons up the strength and courage, curls his left hand into a fist, and punches Biff squarely in the jaw, knocking him out. Marty, freed from the trunk thanks to Marvin Berry himself, races to the scene just in time to see Biff slump to the ground at George's feet. George takes the grateful Lorraine's hand and the two go into the dance hall.
George having his arm twisted by Biff
Marty, knowing that his future isn't sealed until George kisses Lorraine, goes back to the band and finds that Marvin is unable to play guitar having injured his hand while freeing Marty from the trunk. Marty agrees to play guitar in Marvin's place and the band strikes up again, playing a romantic song ("Earth Angel"). Marty, already weak because his parents' love is not confirmed, begins to fade into non-existence when a fellow student cuts in between George and Lorraine on the dance floor, however, George regains his courage, takes Lorraine back and kisses her passionately. Marty is instantly revived and finishes the song and sees his mother and father happily in each others arms.
George punches Biff in the face, knocking him unconscious
Marty turns to leave the dance and runs into George and Lorraine. Lorraine asks if it's OK for George to take her home and Marty heartily agrees. He also advises them that if they have a son who accidentally sets fire to the living room rug when he's eight years old, to go easy on him, implying that he's talking about himself.
George and Lorraine share a kiss
After Marty arrives home, George and Lorraine arrive home from a tennis match, happy and even a bit frisky. Lorraine asks Marty about the camping trip he has planned with Jennifer, to which Marty mentions that the car is wrecked. Everyone starts barking about it until George shows them that Biff is waxing the car, a late model BMW, in the driveway.
Marty shaking hands with George
Biff now runs an auto detailing service and now is working for George, rather than the other way around. George seems amused at Biff's efforts to get away with as little work as possible (but now confronts Biff to complete the work he was hired for; two coats of wax instead of only one). Biff jokingly says that he'll complete the work properly.
Moments later, Biff comes into the house carrying a box filled with copies of George's first published book, the cover of which resembles Marty's appearance in the radiation suit.