Character actor Pat Hingle dies at 84

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Character actor Pat Hingle is dead -- his career reads like a history of television

What was Pat Hingle's greatest performance?

I'd say his role as Warren Beatty's overbearing father in "Splendor in the
Grass."

But Hingle, a familiar character actor, gave dozens of fine performances over
the years. He died Saturday at age 84 at his home in Carolina Beach, N.C.

His television appearances dated to the 1950s, when he acted in "The Phil
Silvers Show," "Studio One" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." In the 1960s,
he acted in "The Twilight Zone," "The Fugitive," "The Andy Griffith Show,"
"Mission: Impossible" and "Bonanza." In the 1970s, he acted in "Gunsmoke,"
"Ironside," "Kung Fu," "McCloud," "Barnaby Jones," "Hawaii Five-O" and "The
Streets of San Francisco."

In the 1980s, Hingle moved on to "M*A*S*H," "Hart to Hart," "St.
Elsewhere," "Matlock" and "War and Remembrance." In the 1990s, he shifted
to "Murder, She Wrote," "Cheers," "In the Heat of the Night," "Touched by an
Angel" and the miniseries of "The Shining." In 2001, he acted in "Dawson's
Creek."

His career reads like a history of television. He also acted in TV movies such
as "Citizen Cohn," "Truman" and "The Rape of Richard Beck."

His big-screen movies include "Norma Rae," "The Grifters," "Batman" and
"Batman Returns" (as Commissioner James Gordon), "Baby Boom" and
"Talladega Nights."

He had a long, distinguished career.

By Hal Boedeker, the TV Guy

Source: RockyMountTELEGRAM.com

Veteran actor Pat Hingle dies at 84 in NC home

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. — Pat Hingle, a veteran actor whose career included
a recurring role as Commissioner Gordon in several Batman movies, has died
after battling blood cancer. He was 84.

Family spokeswoman Lynn Heritage said Hingle died at his home in Carolina
Beach shortly around 10:45 p.m. Saturday. Heritage said Hingle's wife, Julie,
was with him. Heritage said Hingle had been diagnosed with myelodysplasia
in November 2006.

Hingle had lived at Carolina Beach for more than 15 years. Family friend
Michele Seidman said Hingle decided to settle in the coastal town after
shooting the movie "Maximum Overdrive," a Stephen King feature in which
he played a truck stop diner manager who was one of several people held
hostage by demon-possessed machinery.

While shooting the film, the couple stayed in a condo at Carolina Beach.
After he retired, Hingle and his wife decided to move there, and in an
October interview with The Star-News of Wilmington, he described his
feelings about settling in North Carolina in his later years.

"I really do believe there was a divine hand that headed me here," he said
in the interview. "I am happy that I think it's going to end here."

Born Martin Patterson Hingle in Miami on July 19, 1924, Hingle's long career
took him around the country. The path eventually led him to Broadway,
where he appeared in a number of productions, including "Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof" and "That Championship Season." It was his 1958 role in "Dark at the
Top of the Stairs,"though, that led to a Tony Award nomination for Best
Featured Actor in a Play.

While performing in Broadway's "JB" in 1959, Hingle was offered the title role
in the film, "Elmer Gantry." But six weeks after the play opened, Hingle fell
more than 50 feet down an elevator shaft in his apartment building while
trying to crawl out after the elevator stalled between floors in his apartment
building.

Hingle fractured his skull, wrist, hip and most of his ribs on his left side,
broke his left leg in three places and lost the little finger on his left hand.
The movie role went to Bert Lancaster, who won a best actor Oscar.

"I know that if I had played Elmer Gantry, I would have been more of a
movie name," Hingle told The New York Times in 1997. "But I'm sure I would
not have done as many plays as I've done. I had exactly the kind of career
I had hoped for. And I never, never forget that I'm the recipient of the
blessing that is life. It was given to me to try again."

Hingle appeared in more than 50 films, and his most notable movie roles
include the cantankerous judge opposite Clint Eastwood in "Hang 'em High"
(1968) and the role of the father to Sally Field's character in "Norma Rae"
(1979).

While living in Carolina Beach, Hingle continued to work in commercial
productions including "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," which
filmed in Charlotte, as well as local independent productions. Hingle also
appeared on Wilmington stages in plays such as "Tuesdays With Morrie"
and "Our Town."

In addition to his wife, Hingle is survived by two sisters, five children and 11
grandchildren. Heritage said a service to celebrate Hingle's life will be held at
a later date.

___

Jan 04, 2009 - 4:26 p.m. EDT

Copyright 2009, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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COMMISSIONER GORDON?! Nooooo!

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Source: StarNews.com

Actor Pat Hingle dies at age 84



By Amy Hotz
Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 11:54 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 3:58 p.m.

Actor Pat Hingle died Saturday night after a battle with blood cancer.
He was 84.

The veteran of stage, television and film acting passed away at
10:45 p.m. Saturday at his home, according to family spokesperson
Lynn Heritage. He suffered from myelodysplasia, with which he was
diagnosed in November 2006. He was survived by his wife, Julia,
two sisters, five children and 11 grandchildren.

Born Martin Patterson Hingle in Miami on July 19, 1924, Hingle had
a long career took him around the country until he settled in the
Wilmington area in 1986 after filming the big-screen thriller “Maximum
Overdrive.” More recently, while living in Carolina Beach, Hingle
continued to work in commercial productions including “Talladega
Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” which filmed in Charlotte, as
well as local independent productions including “The List” and “Undoing
Time.” He also appeared on Wilmington stages in plays such as
“Tuesdays With Morrie” and “Our Town.”

When most people think of Hingle, any number of iconic images emerge.
He is known as much for his role as a cantankerous judge opposite Clint
Eastwood in “Hang ‘em High” (1968) as he is for the role as Sally Field’s
father in “Norma Rae” (1979). Younger generations know him better as
Commissioner Gordon from the late ’80s and early ’90s Batman movies.

While working in the area, Hingle enjoyed encouraging and mentoring
young actors. This was evident in his informal conversations as well as
philanthropic endeavors. In November 2007, he created the Pat Hingle
Guest Artist Endowment to enable students to work with visiting
professional actors at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Hingle arrived at the endowment announcement in a wheelchair and
with an oxygen tube in his nose. Yet he took time to give a speech in
honor of the event. He emphasized how fortunate he felt to have lived
the life he had. He was not born into an acting family, yet somehow
he’d found what made him happy.

“I’ve always known there was a divine hand at my shoulder,” he said.

Lou Buttino, chair of UNCW's department of film studies, is documenting
much of how that happened in a biography commissioned by the actor
about a year ago.

“He was a tough guy, but his love of people was genuine,” Buttino said.
“He taught me, in many ways, what it means to be a man.”

Buttino said Hingle may have seemed gruff at times, but only because
if he thought he was right, he would not back away from it. He always
tried to do the right thing. The professor will remember him as the
ultimate storyteller, and as someone who was very at peace in
accepting his death.

“He believed that his spirit would come back, especially to his family
and to help other actors,” Buttino said.

Finding theater
When Hingle was 6 years old, his father left, leaving his mother to
travel from job to job taking her son and daughter in tow. Although
Hingle’s first taste of acting was as a carrot in a third-grade play,
he did not immediately pursue the career as an adult. He entered
the University of Texas on a tuba scholarship to major in advertising.
World War II soon broke out, though, and within one semester Hingle
joined the Navy, serving aboard the USS Marshall. He also served in
the Naval reserves during the Korean War.

After World War II, he returned to college and graduated in 1949 with
a degree in radio broadcasting. But it was during this second stint in
college that Hingle became involved in school productions as a way
to meet girls. And he did. While in college, he married his first wife,
Alyce Dorsey, with whom he would have three children.

Soon, acting became his passion. And by the time he left college, he
had 35 productions under his belt. After college, Hingle and his wife
moved to New York, where he studied at the American theater wing.
His first performances off-Broadway were for Ilse Stanley’s theater in
Long Island around 1950. In 1952, he became a member of the Actors
Studio, which led to his first Broadway show, “End as a Man.”

Hingle would go on to appear in four Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway
shows – “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1955), “JB” (1958), “Strange Interlude”
(1963) and “That Championship Season” (1973).

It was his 1958 role in “Dark at the Top of the Stairs,” though, that led
to a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

A second chance
According to an Aug. 10, 1997 article in The New York Times, while
performing in Broadway’s “JB” in 1959, Hingle was offered the title role
in the film, “Elmer Gantry.” But six weeks after the play opened, Hingle
had a nearly fatal accident.

Caught in an elevator in his West End Avenue apartment building that
was stalled between the second and third floors, he tried to crawl out,
lost his balance and fell 54 feet down the shaft. He fractured his skull,
wrist, hip and most of his ribs on his left side, broke his left leg in three
places and lost the little finger on his left hand.

Burt Lancaster got the job on “Elmer Gantry” and went on to win a best
actor Oscar for the role. Hingle, however, took the twist of fate in stride.
In the Times article he said, “I know that if I had played Elmer Gantry, I
would have been more of a movie name. But I’m sure I would not have
done as many plays as I’ve done. I had exactly the kind of career I had
hoped for. And I never, never forget that I’m the recipient of the blessing
that is life. It was given to me to try again.”

By the late ’70s, Hingle and his first wife were divorced, and while filming
“When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?” in El Paso, Texas, he met and fell in
love with a bank teller who cashed the crew’s checks.

On Oct. 25, 1979, Hingle married Julia Wright. The couple moved from
state to state following Hingle’s film and television projects. In 1985, a
Stephen King feature called “Maximum Overdrive” brought them to
Wilmington and its blossoming film industry. Hingle played a truck stop
diner manager who was one of several people held hostage by demon-
possessed machinery.

While here, the couple stayed in a condo at Carolina Beach.

Several years later, when Hingle decided to retire, he and his wife
considered moving to various states they had visited through his work.
The Wilmington area’s beaches, strong theater community and temperate
climate won out, and they built their dream home at Carolina Beach.

Once here, the actor made a huge impact on the community. Friends who
had no family in the area were welcomed at his Christmas dinner table with
the rest of his family. Some local film workers considered themselves
adopted children of Hingle’s.

Michele Seidman, who considers herself one of those “surrogate kids” said,
“Pat and Julie took in a lot of strays, including me . . . Pat was gruff on
the outside but he was a Teddy bear on the inside.”

Terry Theodore, a UNCW theater professor who directed Hingle in two
plays, said he loved imparting his knowledge to acting students and
would talk to classes even more often than was asked of him.

“He was a very affectionate man, very free with advice,” Theodore said.

During an interview this November about his acceptance into the
Wilmington Walk of Fame, Hingle spoke candidly about his sickness,
his past and his life in Carolina Beach.

“I really do believe there was a divine hand that headed me here,” he said. “I am happy that I think it’s going to end here.”

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