George Bancroft (September 30, 1882 – October 2, 1976) was an American film actor, whose career spanned seventeen years from 1925 to 1962. A star of pre-Code Hollywood, he is best known as the tough guy lead in four Josef von Sternberg films, the last of which, Thunderbolt (1929) earned him a Best Actor Award nomination. He was later a supporting actor in a number of notable movies, including Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and Stagecoach (1939).