George Tilles, circa 1926, died November 1929. He leased and managed the Opera House in Fort Smith for many years in the late 19th century. Tilles was an entrepreneur at a young age in Fort Smith, taking over the cigar manufacturing and sales business a few years after the death of his father, Louis Tilles, when he died in 1875. At the time, George Tilles — born Sept. 11, 1859 — was only 18. See Talk with Tilles by Nancy Ellen Carver for more information on him and the Tilles family.