A veteran stage and screen actor best remembered for his supporting character roles in a slew of TV and film productions since the late 1940s, James Whitmore graduated from Yale, served in the US Marines in WWII and studied acting on the G.I. Bill at the famed American Theatre Wing. In 1947. he made his Broadway debut in "Command Decision" for which he won a Tony Award for his supporting role. Hollywood quickly came calling and Whitmore he made his screen debut in 1949's "The Undercover Man". For his second film that same year, "Battleground", he won an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a sergeant leading his troops in the Battle of the Bulge.
Throughout the 1950s, Whitmore most often had featured roles in a succession of both memorable and unmemorable movies. Among the former were director John Huston's crime classic "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950), the well-done sci-fi horror flick "Them!" (1954, in a rare lead), the war romance "Battle Cry" (1954) and the decent if lumbering rendition of the Broadway musical triumph "Oklahoma!" (1955). "Kiss Me Kate" (1953) was a much better musical, and one that showcased Whitmore in the comic role of a gangster who performs a delightful duet (with Keenan Wynn) of "Brush Up Your Shakespeare". The less stellar fare, meanwhile, included "The Girl Who Had Everything" (1953) starring Elizabeth Taylor, and the uninspired Mario Lanza showcase "Because You're Mine" (1952), while the cult camp classic "The Next Voice You Hear" (1950), in which a top-billed Whitmore co-starred with Nancy Davis (the future Mrs. Ronald Reagan), was certainly memorable--God's voice talks to an ordinary family over the radio--but couldn't quite be characterized as good.
Once described as the supporting players' Spencer Tracy, the craggy-faced, big-boned actor possessed a rich voice that is probably as distinctive as his face. Besides innumerable TV appearances throughout his career, Whitmore starred in three of his own series, the most successful of which, "The Law and Mr. Jones", ran for three seasons on ABC in the early 1960s. He has also made periodic returns to his first love, the stage, appearing Off-Broadway in repertory in two plays "Handy Dandy" and "About Time" (1990). He has also toured nationally in one-man shows based on the lives of such diverse historical figures as legendary humorist Will Rogers, and Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman. (A 1975 feature version of the latter, "Give 'Em Hell, Harry!" brought him a second Oscar nod in the Best Actor category.)
Whitmore returned to the screen after a seven-year hiatus in "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), a prison drama starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. He played the penitentiary librarian, an elderly inmate ill-equipped to face the outside world when he gets paroled. He followed up with a supporting turn in the thriller "The Relic" (1996) and in 1997 originated the role of Raymond Oz, a legendary attorney and mentor to Dylan McDermott's Bobby Donnell, in the ABC series "The Practice". When he reprised the role in 1999, the character was suffering from dementia and was accused of murder and Whitmore's strong performance garnered him an Emmy as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Family
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Father: James Allen Whitmore.
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Mother: Florence Bell Whitmore.
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Son: Daniel Whitmore.
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Son: James Whitmore Jr. born in October 1948
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Son: Steven Whitmore.
Education
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Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, pre-law, 1944
Milestones
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1942 Served in the US Marines during WWII
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1947 First Broadway role, "Command Decision"; received Tony Award
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1947 Made professional acting debut with the Peterborough, New Hampshire stock company
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1947 TV debut, "Kraft Television Theater"
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1949 Film acting debut, "The Undercover Man"
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1949 Received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination playing a sergeant in "Battleground"
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1951 Played featured role in the omnibus film "It's a Big Country"
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1953 Cast as one of the gangsters (paired with Keenan Wynn) in the feature version of "Kiss Me Kate"
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1954 Had rare lead in "Them!"
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1955 Narrated and co-starred in the war drama "Battle Cry"
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1955 Played supporting role in the film musical "Oklahoma!"
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1956 Offered a strong turn as a social worker in "Crime in the Streets"
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1960 Last film for seven years, "Who Was That Lady?"
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1967 Returned to features in the Western "Chuka"
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1968 Portrayed the president in the sci-fi classic "Planet of the Apes"
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1970 Cast as Admiral Halsey in the Japanese-American production "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
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1970 Portrayed Will Rogers in the one-man show "Will Rogers' USA"; premiered at Ford's Theatre; later broadcast as TV special in 1972; toured in show on and off over the next thirty years; final performances in role in February 2000
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1970 Returned to Broadway in the unsuccessful production of "Inquest"
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1972 Recreated stage role in CBS adaptation of "Will Rogers' USA"
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1974 Reprised Will Rogers in Broadway staging of "Will Rogers' USA"
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1975 Earned a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for recreating his stage role in the one-man show "Give 'Em Hell, Harry!"
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1977 Portrayed US President Teddy Roosevelt in one-man stage show "Bully!"; production filmed and released theatrically
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1978 Had co-starring role in the CBS miniseries "The Word"
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1982 Last Broadway appearance (to date) "Almost an Eagle"
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1984 Acted in the NBC miniseries "Celebrity"
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1985 Created role of Henry Pulaski in stage production "Handy Dandy" opposite former wife Audra Lindley
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1987 Portrayed the judge overseeing the trial of a woman accused of murder in "Nuts", starring Barbra Streisand
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1987 Starred in PBS' production of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons"
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1988 Was featured as the president in the NBC miniseries "Favorite Son"
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1989 Cast as a televangelist in the HBO original "Glory! Glory!"
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1990 Starred in Off-Broadway production of "Handy Dandy"
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1994 Return to feature films after a seven-year absence in "The Shawshank Redemption", helmed by Frank Darabont
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1997 Had supporting role in the feature film "The Relic"
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1997 Originated role of Raymond Oz, a legendary attorney who served as mentor to Bobby Donnell (Dylan McDermott) in the ABC drama series "The Practice"
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1999 Co-starred as one of the US Supreme Court justices in the ABC drama "Swing Vote"
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1999 Reprised role of Raymond Oz in two episodes of "The Practice"; received Emmy Award
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2001 Had featured role in "The Majestic", directed by Frank Darabont
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2003 Received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series for his role on "Mister Sterling"
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Starred in short-lived ABC sitcom, "Temperatures Rising"
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Starred in short-lived series, "My Friend Tony" (NBC)
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TV series debut as star, "The Law and Mr. Jones" (ABC)
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Was commercial spokesperson for Miracle Grow in a series of TV advertisements
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While in college, joined Yale Drama School Players