Oh, I do hate to hear when a wonderful actor passes away. James Whitmore was a marvelous actor, comfortable in drama, comedy, re-creating historical figures, even in musicals. I don't recall the name of the actor who worked with him in "Kiss Me Kate", but Whitmore's turn as one of the mobsters was just classic, with those riotously brilliant and clever lyrics from Cole Porter:
Brush up your Shakespeare,
Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare
And the women you will wow.
Just declaim a few lines from "Othella"
And they think you're a heckuva fella.
If your blonde won't respond when you flatter 'er
Tell her what Tony told Cleopaterer
He was great in this and in his other major musical performance in "Oklahoma". Great casting altogether in both of these movies.
James Whitmore gave us so many performances to admire in his long career. And he was one of those actors, a truly exceptional actor, relegated to character parts. Too fine an actor to not get leading roles, but boy did he make the best of it. Here is just a short selection of the gems that he left us:
The Asphalt Jungle - as Gus, one of a group put together to pull off a heist. Sort of "The Usual Suspects" of its time, with a great cast, multi-award winning film co-written and directed by John Huston.
"Oklahoma" - as Andrew Carnes, a wryly frightening man who wielded the shotgun that nearly got Ado Annie married off to the wrong man.
Television guest appearances - on so many shows, the reason why James Whitmore is a face we all know. Playhouse 90, Studio One, The Law and Mr. Jones, The Twilight Zone, The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, The White Shadow. He finally won an Emmy Award for his multiple appearances on David E. Kelley's series "The Practice".
Give 'em Hell, Harry! - as Harry S Truman, the standard against which any portrayal of the former president will be compared. Academy Award nominated.
The Shawshank Redemption - as Brooks Hatlen, one of the oldest inmates at Shawshank Prison, he was the prison librarian. A lovely role for the great character actor in a film that has become a classic.
I think the thing about James Whitmore that I admired most was that all of his work seemed so true. Integrity, he oozed boatloads of it. And the great thing about that was that even when he did turn to do a television commercial, as he did for Miracle-Gro, he used the product in his extensive gardens at his home in California. He was quite the gardener, as it turns out. I know Cornell doesn't recommend Miracle-Gro necessarily (my Master Gardener Volunteer status with the Cornell Cooperative compels me to make the disclaimer), but it seemed to work for Mr. Whitmore.
In reading about him I found one more thing to admire about him. He was an early and ardent supporter of Barack Obama. He was campaigning for our new president long before my choice was knocked out of the running. I like that we both voted for him.
I for one will miss James Whitmore's passion and intelligence on the big screen and the small screen. We were lucky to have him around for as long as we did.
Bravo!
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