George Walbridge Perkins, Sr. (January 31, 1862-June 18, 1920), born in Chicago, Illinois, was vice-president of New York Life Insurance Company, and at the same time a partner in the House of Morgan. He served as president of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission from its creation in 1900 until his death in 1920.
With only a high-school education, he began work as an office boy in the Chicago office of the New York Life Insurance Company. By 1898 he had risen to the position of vice president. Perkins played an important role in the development of New York Life. A strong believer in the Efficiency Movement, he sought out instances of waste and believed that any practice could be improved by careful analysis. For example, he noticed that the old routine of farming out territory to middlemen, who in turn appointed men who did the actual soliciting for policies, was inefficient. The local agents were underpaid and often made misrepresentations in order to get initial premiums. Perkins, starting in 1892, made the local agents and solicitors permanent employees, and by introducing in 1896, his system of benefits based on length of service and value of policies written. He opened up new insurance markets in Russia and Europe. He joined J. P. Morgan's bank in 1905 and negotiated many complex deals, especially the formation of the International Harvester Corporation, International Mercantile Marine Company, and Northern Securities Company. He also helped reorganize Morgan's United States Steel Corporation.
George W. Perkins is an American producer of films and television series, most known for being one of the producers of the dramedy Desperate Housewives, of which he is one of the executive producers since 2006.
Beginning in the early 1980s Perkins produced or co-produced movies like the 1983 indie film Joystick, Teen Wolf starring Michael J. Fox from 1985, the 1986 thriller movie Extremities starring Farrah Fawcett and Who's Harry Crumb? from 1989, starring John Candy.
During the 1990s and 2000s Perkins moved on to mainly producing telefilms. In addition he co-produced the 1997 action movie Metro starring Eddie Murphy, and in 2003 he was one of the producers for the short lived thriller series Threat Matrix starring James Denton.
