Murray Hamilton
Murray Hamilton | |
---|---|
![]() Hamilton in trailer forThe Drowning Pool(1975) | |
Born | |
Died | September 1, 1986 Washington, North Carolina, U.S. | (aged 63)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1944–1986 |
Spouse |
Terri DeMarco (m.1953) |
Children | 1 |
Murray Hamilton(March 24, 1923 – September 1, 1986) was an American stage, screen and televisioncharacter actorwho appeared in such films asAnatomy of a Murder,The Hustler,The Graduate,JawsandThe Amityville Horror.[1][2]
Early life
[edit]Born inWashington, North Carolina,Hamilton displayed an early interest in performing during his days at Washington High School just before America's entry into World War II. Bad hearing kept him from enlisting, so he moved to New York City as a 19-year-old to find a career on stage.[citation needed]
Career
[edit]In an early role, he performed on stage withHenry Fondain the wartime storyMister Robertsas a replacement forDavid Wayne,playingEnsign Pulver.[1][2]In 1960, he was onstage again with Fonda inCritic's Choice;Howard TaubmanofThe New York Timescalled him "properly obnoxious as the director".[1]Hamilton was teamed once more with Fonda in 1968 for the drama filmThe Boston Strangler.
Hamilton's best-known performance[3]is as Larry Vaughn, the mayor of Amity, in theSteven SpielbergthrillerJaws(1975).[2]Hamilton reprised the role in the sequel,Jaws 2in 1978.[4]He had agreed to reprise the role again inJaws: The Revenge,but died in 1986, before production began.[5]Other notable big-screen appearances include the critically acclaimed 1959 filmAnatomy of a MurderwithJames Stewart,in which he played the bartender Al Pacquette, who gives testimony in the murder of Barney Quill. He also worked with Stewart inThe Spirit of St. Louis(1957) andThe FBI Story(1959).
The actor made dozens of TV guest appearances. In 1955, Hamilton guest-starred on theNBClegal dramaJustice,based on case files of the Legal Aid Society ofNew York.Hamilton appeared in thePerry Masonepisode "The Case of the Deadly Double" (1958) as murderer Johnny Hale the shadowy boyfriend of a woman with asplit personalitywho is the sister of Perry Mason's client.
In 1957 he played a conniving cowboy who sets up Chester for a murder charge as "Jake Buley" in theGunsmokeepisode "Chester’s Murder". In 1959, he appeared in a few episodes of the crime dramaThe Untouchables,[6]as well as co-starring in the second episode ofRod Serling's television seriesThe Twilight Zone,"One for the Angels",playing Mr. Death oppositeEd Wynn.[7]Also, Hamilton portrayed Calhoun, on (S4E9) of Gunsmoke, which aired in April, 1959. His character is swindled in a land deal along with other members of a wagon train & his wife tries to leave Calhoun with the swindler.
In the 1959-60 television season, Hamilton also co-starred withWilliam Demarest,Jeanne BalandStubby Kayein the NBCsitcomLove and Marriage.He played attorney Steve Baker, who resides in an apartment with his wife (played by Bal), two daughters and a father-in-law (portrayed by Demarest). He soon appeared as a guest star on another sitcom,The Real McCoys,starringWalter Brennan,onABC.In 1961, he appeared in anotherscience fictionseries,'Way Out,hosted byRoald Dahl,with fellow guest starsDoris RobertsandMartin Huston.He guest-starred in an episode of theJames Stewartlegal dramaHawkinsin 1973. In 1986, he played Curtis "Big Daddy" Hollingsworth,Blanche Devereaux's father, in a first-season episode ofThe Golden Girls.
Hamilton complained in a newspaper article about beingtypecast,stating "After I was first cast as a heavy onThe Untouchables,I couldn't ever persuade them [producers] that I could also do something else. "[8]While comic roles were rare for Hamilton during his Hollywood career, he had one oppositeAndy Griffithin the 1958 military comedyNo Time for Sergeants,as well as an appearance in Steven Spielberg's raucous comedy1941,released in 1979. He also appeared in a comedic guest spot onMama's Familyin the second-season episode "Mama Cries Uncle" as Uncle Roy. He was more often cast in dramatic works, such as the science-fiction dramaSeconds(1966), which starredRock Hudson.In his most high-profile performances, Hamilton appeared withPaul NewmaninThe Hustler(1961), playing Findley, a wealthy billiards player who gambles for high stakes, and withDustin HoffmaninThe Graduate(1967) as Mr. Robinson, husband of theseductressMrs. Robinson. In 1975, Hamilton appeared again with Newman inThe Drowning Pool.He also worked withRobert Redfordin a pair of films,The Way We Were(1973) andBrubaker(1980). In early 1982 he appeared as a judge presiding over an impromptu court case on an episode ofBret Maverick.
For many years before and during his film career, Hamilton was a prominent dramatic stage actor, earning aTony Awardnomination for his role in the 1965 production ofAbsence of a Cello.New York Timestheater criticBrooks Atkinsonpraised his work in the playStockade,which was based on a part of theJames JonesnovelFrom Here to Eternity:"Murray Hamilton is an ideal Prewitt. Modest in manner, pleasant of voice, he has a steel-like spirit that brings Prewitt honestly to life."[1]When the actor was suffering fromcancerand found film roles harder to come by, his old co-starGeorge C. Scotthelped out by getting him a part in themade-for-television movieThe Last Days of Patton(1986).
Death
[edit]Hamilton died oflung cancerat age 63,[2]and is interred at Oakdale Cemetery in his native Washington, North Carolina.[9]He and his wife, Terri DeMarco Hamilton (ofThe DeMarco Sisters), had a son, David.[2]
Filmography
[edit]- 1944Song of the Open Roadas Crop Corps Kid (uncredited)
- 1944Reckless Ageas Member of Soldier Quartet
- 1944Something for the Boysas Soldier (uncredited)
- 1951Bright Victoryas Pete Hamilton
- 1951The Whistle at Eaton Fallsas Al Webster
- 1956Toward the Unknownas Major Bromo Lee
- 1956The Girl He Left Behindas Sergeant Clyde
- 1957The Spirit of St. Louisas Bud Gurney
- 1957Jeanne Eagelsas Chick O'Hara
- 1958 “Gunsmoke”as Calhoun
- 1958Darby's Rangersas Private / Sergeant Sims Delancey
- 1958Too Much, Too Soonas Charlie Snow
- 1958The Silent Serviceas Captain Latham
- 1958No Time for Sergeantsas Irving S. Blanchard
- 1958Perry Masonas Johnny Hale
- 1958Houseboatas Captain Alan Wilson
- 1959Anatomy of a Murderas Alphonse Paquette
- 1959The FBI Storyas Sam Crandall
- 1959The Twilight Zone"One for the Angelsas Mr. Death
- 1960Tall Storyas Coach Sandy Hardy
- 1960Route 66as Dr. Stafford
- 1960Alfred Hitchcock Presents(Season 5 Episode 37: "Escape to Sonoita" ) as Marsh
- 1961The Hustleras Findley
- 1962The Farmer's Daughter(TV movie) as Nordick
- 1963Papa's Delicate Conditionas Mr. Harvey
- 196313 Frightened Girlsas Wally Sanders
- 1963The Cardinalas Lafe
- 1965Inherit the Wind(TV movie) as E.K. Hornbeck
- 1966Secondsas Charlie
- 1966An American Dreamas Arthur Kabot
- 1965The Fugitiveas Joe Steelman
- 1967A Bell for Adano(TV movie) as Sergeant Leonard Borth
- 1967The Graduateas Mr. Robinson
- 1968Sergeant Rykeras Captain Appleton
- 1968No Way to Treat a Ladyas Inspector Haines
- 1968The Boston Strangleras Detective Frank McAfee
- 1968The Brotherhoodas Jim Egan
- 1969If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgiumas Fred Ferguson
- 1971Vanished(TV movie) as Nick McCann
- 1971Cannon(TV movie) as Virgil Holley
- 1971A Tattered Web(TV movie) as Sergeant Joe Marcus
- 1971The Police(TV movie) as Chief of Police
- 1971The Harness(TV movie) as Roy Kern
- 1971The Failing of Raymond(TV movie) as Sergeant Manzak
- 1972Deadly Harvest(TV movie) as Sheriff Bill Jessup
- 1973Incident on a Dark Street(TV movie) as Edmund Schilling
- 1973Murdock's Gang(TV movie) as Harold Talbot
- 1973The Way We Wereas Brooks Carpenter
- 1974After the Fall(TV movie) as Mickey
- 1975Jawsas Mayor Larry Vaughn
- 1975The Drowning Poolas Kilbourne
- 1977Murder at the World Series(TV movie) as Harvey Murkison
- 1977Damnation Alleyas General Landers (uncredited)
- 1977Killer on Board(TV movie) as Dr. Folger
- 1978Casey's Shadowas Tom Patterson
- 1978Jaws 2as Mayor Larry Vaughn
- 1979Donovan's Kid(TV movie) as Henry Carpenter
- 1979A Last Cry for Help(TV movie) as Ralph Muir
- 1979The Amityville Horroras Father Ryan
- 19791941as Claude Crumn
- 1980Swan Song(TV movie) as Jack McCauley
- 1980Brubakeras John Deach
- 1981All the Way Home(TV movie) as Joel Lynch
- 1981B. J. and the Bearas Captain Rutherford T. Grant
- 1982Mazes and Monsters(TV movie) as Lieutenant Martini
- 1983Hystericalas The Mayor
- 1983Summer Girl(TV movie) as Jack Reardon
- 1984Boys in Blue(TV movie) as Captain Sid Bender
- 1984Mama's Familyas Uncle Roy Harper
- 1984 "Murder She Wrote"as Bud Michaels
- 1985Too Scared to Screamas Jack
- 1986The Last Days of Patton(TV movie) as General Hobart "Hap" Gay
- 1986Blacke's Magicas Ben McGuire
- 1986The Golden Girlsas Curtis "Big Daddy" Hollingsworth
- 1986Whoops Apocalypseas Jack "Kill The Commies" Preston
References
[edit]- ^abcd"Murray Hamilton, a Character Actor for Over 40 Years".The New York Times.September 17, 1986.
- ^abcde"Murray Hamilton dies".Santa Cruz Sentinel.Associated Press.September 19, 1986 – viaNewspapers.
- ^Hal Erickson(2015)."Murray Hamilton About This Person".Movies & TV Dept.The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon 23 October 2015.Retrieved18 July2018.
- ^Bryan, Jacob (20 June 2017)."'Jaws' 42nd Anniversary: Cast then and Now ".MSN Movies.Archivedfrom the original on 5 August 2017.Retrieved6 June2018.
- ^Jankiewicz, Patrick (9 June 2013).Just When You Thought It Was Safe: A Jaws Companion.BearManor Media. p. 254.
- ^Tucker, Kenneth (20 December 2011).Eliot Ness and the Untouchables: The Historical Reality and the Film and Television Depictions(2nd ed.).McFarland Publishing.p. 111.ISBN9780786488773.
- ^Rubin, Steve (1 September 2017)."Syfy September 1 in Twilight Zone History: Remembering actor Murray Hamilton ('One for the Angels')".SyFy.Retrieved18 July2018.
- ^Lowry, Cynthia (January 10, 1963)."Murray Hamilton Breaks the Mold".The Newport Daily News.Retrieved18 July2018– viaNewspapers.
- ^"Murray Hamilton, 63, Veteran Actor of Film and Television, Dies".Los Angeles Times.3 September 1986.Retrieved12 August2018.