George Collier

Father, brother, husband, human
Drawn to water, family, film and music
Dreamer, explorer, entrepreneur, enigma
Sempre lembrado.

George James Collier, a Brazilian-British filmmaker and entrepreneur, died in New York City in 1983. He was 52.

George was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the 23rd of October 1930, to Mechtilde Isabella Amelia Werther do Rio Branco Collier and George Henry Collier. He was a descendant of José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco; José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Sr., Viscount of Rio Branco; and Heinrich Wilhelm, Baron von Werther.

Raised and educated in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, George began his career in the pharmaceutical industry as a sales manager for Pfizer S.A. in 1952, and progressed to assistant director of marketing research at Squibb Laboratories S.A. In the early 1960’s, he worked as a Wall Street stockbroker in New York City, where he met and married his wife, American fashion model, writer, artist and businesswoman, Carole Madison. In the decade spanning 1964-1973, they lived, worked, and travelled together throughout Europe with their children, Chantal and Shane. During this period, George co-founded the production company, Filmmakers in Frankfurt, as well as produced and directed documentary films and television commercials for EAG in Paris and Union Film in Milan. With his wife and partners, he designed innovative tableware for the European home market and ran a lifestyle specialty shop in London. Divorced in 1974, George struggled with depression over the next 10 years, which compromised his personal and professional life. On the 21st of March 1983, George died by suicide in New York City. He will always be remembered for his deep ties to family, his love of travel, culture and the sea, and his appreciation of the beauty in this world.