R.I.P. Pat Hingle
I agree with you, Flipp--that's the first role of his that comes to mind. Although I have seen him in dozens of films, I was really interested to read of his 50's Broadway career.flipp525 wrote:Hingle's portrayal of the tragic, effusive father of Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass is my personal favorite performance of his.
Big Magilla wrote:Great under-appreciated character actor. They left out his two most memorable screen roles in The Strange One, No Down Payment, Splendor in the Grass and The Grifters.
The scene in The Grifters with Hingle, Anjelica Juston, the bag of oranges and the cigar gives me the creeps every time I see it and is an example of two good actors at the top of their game.
Edited By kaytodd on 1231202166
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This is not a good time to be associated with Batman. First Heath Ledger from the current Batman cycle, then Eartha Kitt from the Adam West series, and now Pat Hingle from the Burton/Schumacher films.
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I always think of him early on for his role in the Batman films, only because being a major part of my childhood, it was the first time I saw Hingle. His career was much more far-reaching, however.Penelope wrote:Mister Tee wrote:It's very sad to me that most of the other obits for Hingle begin identifying him as Commissioner Gordon in Batman films.
I agree. In fact, when I first saw the obit in the news this morning, I had to wrack my brain to think of him in the Batman movies. Those are not the movies I associate with his career.
A great actor.
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I was shocked to see the this obit was from Variety. I checked their website to see if they had updated it. They had not.
Here's the more informed and appreciative N.Y. Times obituary:
By RICHARD SEVERO
January 5, 2009
Pat Hingle, a versatile character actor of stage and screen who became accustomed to winning critical praise in a career that spanned five decades, died on Saturday at his home in Carolina Beach, N.C. He was 84. The cause was myelodysplasia, a blood disorder, his wife, Julia, said.
In 1997, Mr. Hingle portrayed Benjamin Franklin in the Broadway revival of the musical “1776.” Above, Mr. Hingle as Franklin with Brent Spiner, right, as John Adams.
Mr. Hingle first attracted the attention of critics in 1953 when he appeared on Broadway in “End as a Man” as a genial but loutish football player caught up in murky doings at a military academy in the South. Walter Kerr, reviewing the play for The New York Herald Tribune called Mr. Hingle’s performance “first rate.” When the play, by Calder Willingham, was made into a film called “The Strange One” in 1957, Mr. Hingle got the same role and similar notices.
Over the years, he took on a dizzying mix of roles and seemed to do them all with ease and considerable skill. In the 1960s, he played both Hector in “Troilus and Cressida” and Macbeth at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn. He also played the gruff and messy Oscar in “The Odd Couple” on Broadway.
He played a sprightly Benjamin Franklin in the 1997 Broadway revival of “1776”; a gay J. Edgar Hoover in the 1992 HBO movie “Citizen Cohn”; and Warren Beatty’s father in the 1961 film “Splendor in the Grass.”
He could be a relatively benign character, like the harness salesman in William Inge’s “Dark at the Top of the Stairs” on Broadway, or a quite sinister one, like the sadistic gangster who stubbed out his cigar on Anjelica Huston’s hand in the 1990 film “The Grifters.” On the other side of the law he was Police Commissioner Gordon in Batman movies, beginning in 1989.
“I can be a truck driver, a doctor, a lawyer, a hanging judge, whatever,” he said in an interview. “And looking like I do has allowed me to make a good living in all kinds of media. It’s a blessing and I’m aware of it.”
Mr. Hingle, a husky six-footer, did have an imposing physical presence, but his abilities were probably enhanced by the jobs he had while trying to break into show business — shoe salesman, playground attendant, rather unsuccessful purveyor of Bibles, farmhand, usher, waiter and even file clerk at Bloomingdale’s.
Martin Patterson Hingle was born on July 19, 1924, in Miami. His father was a building contractor who died when his son was an infant; his widow took her three children all over the country as she worked at menial jobs.
Mr. Hingle went to high school in Weslaco, Tex., where he played tuba in the band. He attended the University of Texas, but dropped out during World War II to enlist in the Navy. He served as a fireman aboard a destroyer that saw action in the South Pacific. He liked the ship, later telling interviewers that it was his “first real home anywhere.”
In 1946, following his discharge, he returned to the University of Texas and joined a drama club because, he said, that’s where the prettiest girls were. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1949. When the war in Korea began he was recalled by the Navy, serving as a boilerman technician.
He came to New York in 1952, joined the Actors Studio and began to get parts both onstage and in films. His early movies included “On the Waterfront” (1954) and “No Down Payment” (1957).
During the 1954-55 Broadway season, he played Gooper in Tennessee Williams’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” When he appeared in “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” in 1957, Richard Watts wrote in The New York Post that Mr. Hingle “possesses a dynamic quality that brings everything to life.”
He got the title role of a morally aware businessman in the Archibald MacLeish play “J.B.” in 1958, and Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times said the actor gave “an almost unbearably moving performance of a man of fortitude who is almost overwhelmed but never yields to the evil of his time.”
The play, which was directed by Elia Kazan, was still running in 1959 when Mr. Hingle, trying to escape a stalled elevator in his apartment building on the West Side, fell more than 50 feet down the shaft. He fractured his left hip and a finger had to be amputated. He spent a year convalescing.
Mr. Hingle said he preferred theater because movies “are not the actor’s medium.” ”
After the war, he married Alyce F. Dorsey; the marriage ended in divorce. Their three children, Bill Hingle, Jody Smith and Molly Mantione survive him, as do his wife, Julia; two stepchildren, Katherine Joy and Gregory Swanson; two sisters, Jamie Petty and Joyce France; and 11 grandchildren.
Mr. Hingle was a self-described workaholic, and over the years he took so many roles that he said he forgot details about some of the characters. He’d watch his old movies on television “with fascination,” he said, because he could never remember “whether I’m a good guy or a bad guy.”
Here's the more informed and appreciative N.Y. Times obituary:
By RICHARD SEVERO
January 5, 2009
Pat Hingle, a versatile character actor of stage and screen who became accustomed to winning critical praise in a career that spanned five decades, died on Saturday at his home in Carolina Beach, N.C. He was 84. The cause was myelodysplasia, a blood disorder, his wife, Julia, said.
In 1997, Mr. Hingle portrayed Benjamin Franklin in the Broadway revival of the musical “1776.” Above, Mr. Hingle as Franklin with Brent Spiner, right, as John Adams.
Mr. Hingle first attracted the attention of critics in 1953 when he appeared on Broadway in “End as a Man” as a genial but loutish football player caught up in murky doings at a military academy in the South. Walter Kerr, reviewing the play for The New York Herald Tribune called Mr. Hingle’s performance “first rate.” When the play, by Calder Willingham, was made into a film called “The Strange One” in 1957, Mr. Hingle got the same role and similar notices.
Over the years, he took on a dizzying mix of roles and seemed to do them all with ease and considerable skill. In the 1960s, he played both Hector in “Troilus and Cressida” and Macbeth at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn. He also played the gruff and messy Oscar in “The Odd Couple” on Broadway.
He played a sprightly Benjamin Franklin in the 1997 Broadway revival of “1776”; a gay J. Edgar Hoover in the 1992 HBO movie “Citizen Cohn”; and Warren Beatty’s father in the 1961 film “Splendor in the Grass.”
He could be a relatively benign character, like the harness salesman in William Inge’s “Dark at the Top of the Stairs” on Broadway, or a quite sinister one, like the sadistic gangster who stubbed out his cigar on Anjelica Huston’s hand in the 1990 film “The Grifters.” On the other side of the law he was Police Commissioner Gordon in Batman movies, beginning in 1989.
“I can be a truck driver, a doctor, a lawyer, a hanging judge, whatever,” he said in an interview. “And looking like I do has allowed me to make a good living in all kinds of media. It’s a blessing and I’m aware of it.”
Mr. Hingle, a husky six-footer, did have an imposing physical presence, but his abilities were probably enhanced by the jobs he had while trying to break into show business — shoe salesman, playground attendant, rather unsuccessful purveyor of Bibles, farmhand, usher, waiter and even file clerk at Bloomingdale’s.
Martin Patterson Hingle was born on July 19, 1924, in Miami. His father was a building contractor who died when his son was an infant; his widow took her three children all over the country as she worked at menial jobs.
Mr. Hingle went to high school in Weslaco, Tex., where he played tuba in the band. He attended the University of Texas, but dropped out during World War II to enlist in the Navy. He served as a fireman aboard a destroyer that saw action in the South Pacific. He liked the ship, later telling interviewers that it was his “first real home anywhere.”
In 1946, following his discharge, he returned to the University of Texas and joined a drama club because, he said, that’s where the prettiest girls were. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1949. When the war in Korea began he was recalled by the Navy, serving as a boilerman technician.
He came to New York in 1952, joined the Actors Studio and began to get parts both onstage and in films. His early movies included “On the Waterfront” (1954) and “No Down Payment” (1957).
During the 1954-55 Broadway season, he played Gooper in Tennessee Williams’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” When he appeared in “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” in 1957, Richard Watts wrote in The New York Post that Mr. Hingle “possesses a dynamic quality that brings everything to life.”
He got the title role of a morally aware businessman in the Archibald MacLeish play “J.B.” in 1958, and Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times said the actor gave “an almost unbearably moving performance of a man of fortitude who is almost overwhelmed but never yields to the evil of his time.”
The play, which was directed by Elia Kazan, was still running in 1959 when Mr. Hingle, trying to escape a stalled elevator in his apartment building on the West Side, fell more than 50 feet down the shaft. He fractured his left hip and a finger had to be amputated. He spent a year convalescing.
Mr. Hingle said he preferred theater because movies “are not the actor’s medium.” ”
After the war, he married Alyce F. Dorsey; the marriage ended in divorce. Their three children, Bill Hingle, Jody Smith and Molly Mantione survive him, as do his wife, Julia; two stepchildren, Katherine Joy and Gregory Swanson; two sisters, Jamie Petty and Joyce France; and 11 grandchildren.
Mr. Hingle was a self-described workaholic, and over the years he took so many roles that he said he forgot details about some of the characters. He’d watch his old movies on television “with fascination,” he said, because he could never remember “whether I’m a good guy or a bad guy.”
I agree. In fact, when I first saw the obit in the news this morning, I had to wrack my brain to think of him in the Batman movies. Those are not the movies I associate with his career.Mister Tee wrote:It's very sad to me that most of the other obits for Hingle begin identifying him as Commissioner Gordon in Batman films.
A great actor.
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Absolutely. In fact, I'd had Marasco as both Latin and Greek teacher in my sophomore year. (I don't know if Bill Condon ever mentioned this to you, but the Tony-winning set design of the show was a near-exact replica of the Regis front hall)Damien wrote:(Tee, you must have seen the showm as it was written by a Regis teacher.)
It's very sad to me that most of the other obits for Hingle begin identifying him as Commissioner Gordon in Batman films. That's as reductive as noting Alec Guinness only for Star Wars. I associate Hingle with practically every play/movie of the Inge/Kazan era. His professionalism was easy to take for granted, which explains why he was so often overlooked for awards consideration. (As Damien says, his "beloved" teacher in Child's Play was every bit the match for Weaver's martinet) I hope the exceptional length of his career was reward enough for him.
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Damn. He was a wonderful, and under-appreciated, character actor. Although Fritz Weaver won the Tony for it, I thought Hingle's performance in Child's Play was one of the best performances I've seen on stage. (Tee, you must have seen the showm as it was written by a Regis teacher.)
Pat Hingle only had one leg. I believe he lost the other in an elevator accident.
I've never heard of a tuba scholarship before.
Edited By Damien on 1231146008
Pat Hingle only had one leg. I believe he lost the other in an elevator accident.
I've never heard of a tuba scholarship before.
Edited By Damien on 1231146008
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From Variety 4 January 2008
Actor Pat Hingle dies at 84
Pat Hingle, a veteran actor whose career spanned stage, film and TV, including a recurring role as Commissioner Gordon in several Batman movies in the 1990s, died Saturday of cancer. He was 84.
Born Martin Patterson Hingle in 1924, he went to U. of Texas on a tuba scholarship. After a stint in the Navy during World War II, he earned a degree in radio broadcasting.
He later became a member of the Actors Studio, which led to a role in Broadway's "End as a Man."
He earned an acting Tony nom for 1958's "Dark at the Top of the Stairs."
Film roles included "On the Waterfront," "Hang 'Em High" and "Norma Rae."
Hingle was a guest star in many TV series, including roles on dramas "Touched by an Angel," "Homicide: Life on the Street," "Murder She Wrote," "War and Remembrance" and "In the Heat of the Night," as well as comedies "Wings," "Cheers" and "Mash" to name just a few.
Family friend Michele Seidman said Hingle died at his home in Carolina Beach shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday.
Seidman said he decided to settle in the coastal town after shooting the movie "Maximum Overdrive" in the area in 1986. He lived there for more than 15 years.
She said Hingle had battled multiple health problems over the past several years.
Hingle's career in movies and television spanned six decades, and he was also nominated for a Tony Award in 1958. Hingle's last movie was "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," which was released in 2006.
He set up the Pat Hingle Guest Artist Endowment at the U. of North Carolina, Wilmington.
Survivors include his wife, Julia; five children; two sisters; and 11 grandchildren.
Actor Pat Hingle dies at 84
Pat Hingle, a veteran actor whose career spanned stage, film and TV, including a recurring role as Commissioner Gordon in several Batman movies in the 1990s, died Saturday of cancer. He was 84.
Born Martin Patterson Hingle in 1924, he went to U. of Texas on a tuba scholarship. After a stint in the Navy during World War II, he earned a degree in radio broadcasting.
He later became a member of the Actors Studio, which led to a role in Broadway's "End as a Man."
He earned an acting Tony nom for 1958's "Dark at the Top of the Stairs."
Film roles included "On the Waterfront," "Hang 'Em High" and "Norma Rae."
Hingle was a guest star in many TV series, including roles on dramas "Touched by an Angel," "Homicide: Life on the Street," "Murder She Wrote," "War and Remembrance" and "In the Heat of the Night," as well as comedies "Wings," "Cheers" and "Mash" to name just a few.
Family friend Michele Seidman said Hingle died at his home in Carolina Beach shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday.
Seidman said he decided to settle in the coastal town after shooting the movie "Maximum Overdrive" in the area in 1986. He lived there for more than 15 years.
She said Hingle had battled multiple health problems over the past several years.
Hingle's career in movies and television spanned six decades, and he was also nominated for a Tony Award in 1958. Hingle's last movie was "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," which was released in 2006.
He set up the Pat Hingle Guest Artist Endowment at the U. of North Carolina, Wilmington.
Survivors include his wife, Julia; five children; two sisters; and 11 grandchildren.
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