Veteran character actor and star of THEM! and PLANET OF THE APES, died today at age 87.
He was one of my favorite actors.
Mine too.........he will be missed.RIP.
I remember when he did Will Rogers on the stage....
Mike
Whitmore in THEM!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW6GZadqz-E (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW6GZadqz-E)
Really solid Character Man.
Met him outside the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, 15 years ago (?)
Sheesh, he was bowlegged!
Rest, James.
-Craig W.
Lord, Not 20 minutes after write my Post about Feed Gwynne, I learn that one of the true insprations ot my life has passed.
I first saw Whitmore in Give em Hell Harry and it LITERALLY changed my life.
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd54/gracebuster/GIVEEm.jpg)
Here is a link to my Speaker's Agent's website. If you watch this video (or go about 2 and a half minutes in) you'll see the profound impact this one actor made on my life.
http://premierespeakers.com/christian/daniel_roebuck/video/12215 (http://premierespeakers.com/christian/daniel_roebuck/video/12215)
God Bless Him.
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd54/gracebuster/JamesWhitmore4.jpg)
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd54/gracebuster/JamesWhitmore3.jpg)
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd54/gracebuster/JamesWhitmore2.jpg)
He was our town doctor on A MINUTE WITH STAN HOOPER.
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd54/gracebuster/Min2.jpg)
Working with him was one of the best weeks of my life!
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd54/gracebuster/Min1.jpg)
Good stuff, Dan.
Though I actually preferred Ed Flander's "Harry Truman," I think James's "Will Rogers" is one of the best one-handers ever; not far behind Holbrooks's "Twain." And Whitmore also did a real hero of The Wife & I, Teddy Roosevelt.
For what its worth, the kind of stuff that gave ME the guts to put together several one-man LINCOLNs over the years.
-Craig
Sorry to hear this is such a personal loss for you Danny. My sincere sympathies buddy.
Classic actor with one of those faces you like instantly. There was no mistaking the Whitmore brows even under the John Chambers ape appliances.
I'm sorry to say that I had mistakenly believed he passed away some years ago, not long after THE RELIC came out. Glad I was wrong but sorry I didn't realize it til now. (Did that with Anthony Quayle once, couldn't figure out how one guy had so many in-the-can performances completed in so many long-unfinished movies. Turned out I'd been thinking of the passing of Stanley Baker.)
Character actors. God love 'em. And this man was one of the biggest and best. Boy, they just keep falling don't they?
RIP Mr Whitmore.
RIP Mr Whitmore. You were a wonderful actor and you're memories will live on forever!
BK
One of my favorites, in the top three for me... dang!
Geez Danny, you and I were just talking about Mr. Whitmore only days ago over the phone, about what an incredible actor he was, and how he was so giving of his time and wisdom to younger actors.
I'll never forget him. Thank the good Lord we have so many of his works recorded... rest easy now, and while you're up there in Heaven, GIVE 'EM HELL, James!
Mike C.
Terry Pace may have gotten the final interview...partial, anyways...over the phone with Whitmore, apparently just before he was diagnosed. There was to be a followup in person, which I had hoped to tag along for. Alas.
I do remember seeing him play a villain on an episode of "The Big Valley," and thinking how good he was at being the sorta likeable bad guy. Maybe it was just his personality shining through.
Of course his famous anecdote, told many times I hear, was the story of a younger actor asking him, "What have you done?" Whitmore pondered this for a moment and then replied, "Well, I saved the world from giant ants once..." David Schow heard him tell this on the set of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.
His passing leaves only Linda Harrison, Lou Wagner and Buck Kartalian the surviving stars of PLANET OF THE APES.
R.I.P., Mr. Whitmore.
Quote from: MonsterArt on February 07, 2009, 01:14:06 PM
I do remember seeing him play a villain on an episode of "The Big Valley," and thinking how good he was at being the sorta likeable bad guy. Maybe it was just his personality shining through.
It's really weird. I have never seen an episode of "The Big Valley" before in my life. The other day, I was cable TV channel surfing and came across an episode of it. I stopped to watch it because I saw Lee Majors and had always been aa fan of "The Six Million Dollar Man". It was the episode with Mr. Whitmore.
I am a big fan of POTA and sadly never got a chance to get his sutograph.
RIP
Rob
I picked this up a couple years ago, not sure if the sig was real or not.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh17/bkallenberg/P5070475.jpg)
BK
That autograph looks authentic to me, mich. It's pretty much identical to the one I have.
Quote from: MonsterArt on February 07, 2009, 01:14:06 PM
I do remember seeing him play a villain on an episode of "The Big Valley," and thinking how good he was at being the sorta likeable bad guy. Maybe it was just his personality shining through.
That episode is among my favorites.......he projected such a menace below the surface veneer of amiability in that show. Just incredible. He was all smiles until one of the Barkleys turned away, then the pure evil shone through his eyes without uttering a word. Remarkable actor.
Guys, don't leave out probably my favorite one-hour TZ, "On Thursday We Leave For Home."
MUCH "better than TV" performance.
-Craig