James Whitmore, that unmistakable character actor with the rough, craggy features who always seemed older than his years, died on February 6 of lung cancer at his Malibu home. He was 87.

He was born on October 1, 1921 in White Plains, New York, but raised in Buffalo, New York. A fine athlete, he was a pre-law major on a football scholarship at Yale before injuries sidelined his athletic pursuits. All was not lost as Whitmore helped launched the university's radio station and developed his first taste for performance. After serving in the Marines during World War II, he moved to New York City where he studied acting with the American Theater Wing on the G.I. Bill. A striking character player with rugged features, stocky build and a naturalistic delivery, Whitmore quickly found work on the stage and won a Tony Award by the time he was just 27 for his portrayal as an Army sergeant in Command Decision (1948).

It wasn't long before Whitmore was picked up by Hollywood, and MGM signed him quickly for a series of fine roles: a battle weary sergeant (an Oscar® nomination) in Battleground (1949) and, as Gus, one of the many luckless criminals in John Huston's masterful study of a crime caper gone awry The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Who could forget his splendid comic performance as Slug, a henchman who has to keep Katherine Grayson in line for Kiss Me Kate (1953)? Aside from MGM, Whitmore had one of his best parts as a New Mexico police sergeant in the giant ant sci-fi opus Them! (1954). Despite its incredible storyline, Whitmore was a standout as a calm, courageous authority figure, giving the movie its grounded center.

Whitmore also found a tremendous outlet in television and by the '60s he was on every hit show imaginable: Ben Casey, The Twilight Zone, Route 66, Combat!, and The Big Valley to name just a few. Yet his film work was still captivating, the lead in the controversial race drama in Black Like Me (1964); the assembly President in Planet of the Apes; and another disillusioned criminal in a modern take on the aftermath of a crime in The Split (both 1968).

The beauty of Whitmore's career is that he seem to get more impressive with age, no mean feat for a man who had a body of great work in his youth. On Broadway, he found a niche bringing historical figures to life such as Harry Truman, Will Rogers and Theodore Roosevelt and a film Give 'em Harry (1975) a bio on Truman, earned him a Best Actor Oscar® nomination, an amazing feat for a one-man show. Busy right till the end, Whitmore is probably best remembered by current audiences as inmate Brooks Hatlen, a lifer with no comprehension of the outside world, in The Shawshank Redemption (1994). In 2000 he won a guest Emmy award as a mentor to one of the attorneys in the acclaimed series The Practice. He is survived by his wife fourth wife of seven years, Noreen; three sons from a first marriage, Steve, James Jr. and Dan; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole