James Whitmore was an American actor who worked in movies, on TV, and in the theater. Whitmore is a veteran character actor and a very talented performer. You can tell how good he is by the fact that he is one of only a few actors to have won a Tony, Emmy, Golden Globe, and Grammy. He was also nominated for two Academy Awards. When he was a kid, Whitmore wanted to be a football player, which is an interesting fact. When Whitmore hurt his knees badly, he had to stop playing football. That’s when he tried his hand at acting. After learning how to act at the Yale Dramatic Society, Whitmore went to New York to work on his skills at the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio. In 1948, with the play “Command Decision,” which won him a Tony award, he broke through in the theater world. With the movie “Battleground” the following year, he left a mark on movies that will never be erased. Even though Whitmore had some success early in his career, it didn’t slow him down or make him less motivated as he worked harder each year. In the 1950s, Whitmore started appearing on TV. During his nearly 60-year career on TV, he played many different roles to perfection and got a lot of praise and applause.
Early years and childhood
James Allen Whitmore was born in White Plains, New York, on October 1, 1921. His parents were Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr. His father worked for the park commission.
Young Whitmore went to Amherst Central High School for his early education. He then went to Choate School on a football scholarship.
Whitmore went to Yale University on a football scholarship after he finished his basic education. But when he hurt his knees badly, he had to stop playing football. He was going to school to get a law degree and his major was Government.
Due to injuries, Whitmore had to put football on hold, so he turned to act. He became a member of the Yale Dramatic Society and learned how to act. He joined Skull and Bones and was one of the first people to help start the Yale radio station.
Whitmore joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves during World War II. He didn’t give up on school, though, and in 1944 he got his degree from Yale University. After he graduated, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the South Pacific. When he left the Marines, he was a Lieutenant.
After World War II, Whitmore went to New York to take an acting class at the American Theatre Wing and Actors Studio.
James Whitmore’s Career
Right after World War II, James Whitmore tried his hand at being an actor. He was in a play on Broadway called “Command Decision,” where he played a sergeant named Harold Evans. He won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Debut Actor for his role in the play “Command Decision.”
The movie “The Undercover Man,” with Glenn Ford and Nina Foch, was Whitmore’s big break in 1949. It was a crime thriller that looked like a documentary. Battleground, his second movie and his first with MGM, came out the same year. The movie did very well and got him a lot of praise.
Even though Whitmore didn’t have the best looks or the most charming personality, his acting skills were so good that he was praised by many people. He kept getting a wide range of roles, all of which he played well. From playing a religious, moral person in “The Next Voice You Hear Above” to a “crispy boy” in “Mrs. O’Malley and Mr. Malone” to a “pathetic crook” in “The Asphalt Jungle” to a “stoic security chief” in “Above and Beyond,” he was praised and applauded for all of his roles.
After his successful film career, Whitmore starred in a few more movies, including “Angels in the Outfield,” “Kiss Me, Kate,” “Them!,” “Oklahoma!,” “Black Like Me,” “Guns of the Magnificent Seven,” and “Tora! Tora! Tora!”
In the 1975 one-man show “Give ’em Hell, Harry!,” Whitmore played the role of former U.S. President Harry S. Truman. Because of how well he played Truman, he was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actor category.
Witness Whitmore played Brooks Hatlen, a librarian, in the 1994 movie “The Shawshank Redemption,” which was praised by critics and was up for an Academy Award.
In 1996, he was in the science fiction movie “The Relic.” At the end of the ’90s, he had a part in the 1999 movie “Swing Vote.”
Whitmore has been on the big screen three times since the year 2000. Some of these were “A Ring of Endless Light,” “The Majestic,” and “Fun with Dick and Jane” (2005).
Whitmore didn’t just do acting on the big screen. Around the middle of the 1950s, Whitmore started watching TV. His time on TV grew as he did more and more shows. He started as Father Emil Kapaun in the 1955 episode “The Good Thief” of the religion anthology show “Crossroads” on ABC.
After his first TV show, Whitmore starred in a few more, including “Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theater,” “Lux Video Theatre,” “Kraft Theatre,” “Studio One in Hollywood,” “Schlitz Playhouse,” “Matinee Theatre,” and “Ford Television Theatre.” In 1958, he played the lead role in NBC’s “Wagon Train” episode “The Gabe Carswell Story” with Ward Bond.
He began the 1960s with the crime drama series “The Law and Mr. Jones” on ABC. Whitmore was the main character in the show.
In the 1963 episode “On Thursday We Leave for Home” of “The Twilight Zone,” he played Captain William Benteen.
In 1965, he played Col. Paul J. Hartley in an episode of “Twelve O’Clock High” called “The Hero.” He also played a German officer pretending to be a Catholic priest in an episode of “Combat!” called “The Cassock.”
In the 1967 episode of The Invaders called “Quantity: Unknown,” he played a security guard as a guest star. Whitmore was in an episode of the ABC show “Custer” that same year.
In ‘Planet of the Apes,’ which came out in 1968, Whitmore played the head of the Simian Assembly. At the end of the decade, he had roles in a number of well-known shows, such as “My Friend Tony,” “The Big Valley,” and “The Virginian” on ABC and NBC, respectively.
He played Dr. Vincent Campanelli on the ABC medical sitcom “Temperatures Rising” from 1972 to 1973.
In 1975, Whitmore played General Oliver O. Howard in the TV movie “I Will Fight No More Forever.” The telefilm was based on a fight between the US Army and the Nez Percé tribe that happened in 1877.
Whitmore voiced Mark Twain in the first claymation feature film, “The Adventures of Mark Twain,” which came out in 1986.
In 1999, he played the lead role in two episodes of the TV show “The Practice.” He won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for how well he did in the role.
Whitmore’s last appearance on TV was in the 2007 episode of C.S.I. called “Ending Happy.” He played the part of an old man who gives a clue that might not be very useful.
Works of note
Whitmore became well-known early on in his career. In his first year making movies, he played Platoon Sgt. Kinnie in the war movie Battleground. He was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the movie.
The movie “Give ’em Hell, Harry!” came out in 1975. In the movie version of the biographical play, Whitmore played former U.S. President Harry S. Truman in a one-man show. The movie was a big hit, and Whitmore was nominated for both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He got a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.
Awards & Achievements
In 1948, his performance in the play “Command Decision” won him the Tony Award for Best Newcomer.
In 1949, the movie “Battleground” won him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1975, ‘Give ’em Hell, Harry!’ won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.
In 1989, ‘Glory! Glory!’ won him the CableACE Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries.
In 1999, he won an Emmy Award for his role as Raymond Oz on “The Practice.” The award was for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Personal History and Legacies
Whitmore got married four times. In 1947, he got married to Nancy Mygatt. He met her at the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio. They got a divorce in 1971 after having three sons.
Whitmore got married to the actress Audra Lindley in 1972. They were together until 1979.
In 1979, he married Nancy Mygatt, who had been his first wife. But his second marriage to Mygatt only lasted for two years before they split up in 1981.
He married actress and writer Noreen Nash in 2001, and they stayed together until his death in 2009.
Whitmore was told he had lung cancer in 2008. He died on February 6, 2009, at the age of 87, at his home in Malibu, California.
After James Whitmore died, the Peterborough Players started the “James Whitmore Award,” which is given every year to a great theater intern.
Estimated Net worth
James is one of the wealthiest actors and is on the list of the most well-known actors. Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider all say that James Whitmore’s net worth is about $1.5 million.