Mohammed Michael "Mo" George (born 11 March 1982) is a British actor who played

Gus Smith Gus Smith is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mohammed George. He made his first appearance on 28 May 2002. It was announced in January 2008 that Gus would leave the show later in 2008, and he made his l ...

on the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' from 2002 to 2008.

Early life

Mohammed Michael George was born to a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n mother and

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

n father, in Hackney,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Career

Before appearing in ''EastEnders'', George made guest appearances in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'', ''Bottom'' (as a young trick-or-treater in the episode ''Terror''), '' Kidulthood'' and ''

The Last Detective ''The Last Detective'' is a British TV comedy drama series, broadcast on ITV between 7 February 2003 and 31 May 2007, starring Peter Davison as the title character, Detective Constable " Dangerous Davies". The series is based on the "Dangerou ...

''. He also starred as Dennis in the children's program '' Renford Rejects'' in 2000.

Personal life

George has a daughter, Olivia Destiny. His daughter was born in 2005 in Barnet,

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

Legal troubles

George was arrested on 8 December 2006 for a suspected assault on girlfriend Emma Archibald during an argument outside a restaurant. She corroborated the claims, in what started as an argument over who should empty the dishwasher. George was cautioned by the police for having swung a bag of rubbish, and was subsequently suspended by ''EastEnders'' Executive Producer Diederick Santer for two months. He apologised to the BBC and the show's producers. It was announced on 18 January 2008 that George and ''EastEnders'' had reached a mutual agreement not to renew his contract and he left the show after six years, later in 2008. George has since stated that he was "forced" to leave ''EastEnders'' after the bosses there believed newspaper headlines which he later proved wrong. He has also admitted to suffering from depression as a result of his departure from ''EastEnders''.

Lawsuits

In March 2009, George started libel action against ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' newspaper, claiming that they said he was "acting like a wild animal" and branded him a "woman beater" and that this was untrue. His lawyer said the reports had "damaged his prospects as an actor". The newspaper contested the claim, but George won £75,000 libel damages on 2 April 2009. In July 2010, the '' Daily Star'' apologised and paid damages to George after they incorrectly reported that he had arrived drunk to an ''EastEnders'' 25th anniversary party and acted aggressively to the programme's producers.

Other interests

George is now a full-time DJ playing around clubs across the United Kingdom. In June 2016, George was nominated for best actor alongside Idris Elba, Shone Romulus, and Emmanuel Imani at the 2016 British Urban Film festival for his role in "Murder Capital" a short film written and directed by Rob Woods.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Mohammed 1982 births Living people Male actors from London Black British male actors English DJs English male film actors English people of Antigua and Barbuda descent English people of Jamaican descent English male soap opera actors Actors from the London Borough of Hackney