Character
actor James Whitmore died Friday night of lung cancer at the age of
87.We all probably best know him as Brooks Hatlen in The Shawshank Redemption, but Whitmore had an extensive television career, starring in the series "The Law and Mr. Jones" (1960-1962), "My Friend
Tony" (1969) and "Temperatures Rising" (1972-1973). He got an Emmy in 1999 for his guest-starring role in The Practice, and was a lawyer in a 2007 episode of CSI. But that just touches upon what Whitmore did in his 60-year career. He won a Tony for his very first Broadway role, in 1947's Command Decision - and, when his one-man performance as Harry Truman, Give 'El Hell, Harry, was made into a movie in 1975, he became the only actor ever Oscar-nominated for a film in which he was the only cast member.
Over
the past few years Whitmore got pretty political - he actively
campaigned for Barack Obama back in 2007 before it was the cool thing
to do, saying Obama had the wisdom "to deal with a very, very confused
and complex country, and the world." And he appeared in a series of TV
commercials promoting religious diversity and tolerance.
After the jump, a clip of Whitmore in a spot from late 2007, entitled "Worship Or Not." And video of him as Brooks Hatlen in
The Shawshank Redemption...Read More...
