Every Disney Hero Has a Voice
Johnny Butler/True Son from
The Light in the Forest (1958)
James Gordon MacArthur
December 8th, 1937 – October 28th, 2010
James Gordon MacArthur (December 8, 1937 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor best known for
the role of Danny "Danno" Williams, the reliable second-in-command of
the fictional Hawaiian State Police squad Hawaii Five-O.
Early life
Born in Los Angeles, California, MacArthur was adopted as
an infant by playwright Charles MacArthur and actress Helen Hayes (he was
actually the biological child of Charles MacArthur, the product of his affair
with another woman). He grew up in Nyack, New York, along with the MacArthurs'
biological daughter, Mary. He was educated at Allen-Stevenson School in New
York, and later at the Solebury School in New Hope, Pennsylvania, where he
starred in basketball, football, and baseball.
In his final year at Solebury, he played guard on the
football team; captained the basketball team; was president of his class, the
student government, and the Drama Club; rewrote the school's constitution;
edited the school paper, The Scribe; and played Scrooge in a local
presentation of A Christmas Carol. He also started dating a fellow
student, Joyce Bulifant; they were married in November 1958 and divorced nine
years later.
MacArthur grew up around the greatest literary and
theatrical talent of the time. Lillian Gish was his godmother, and his family
guests included Ben Hecht, Harpo Marx, Robert Benchley, Beatrice Lillie, John
Barrymore, and John Steinbeck. His first radio role was on Theatre Guild of the
Air, in 1948. The Theatre Guild of the Air was the premier radio program of its
day, producing one-hour plays that were performed in front of a live audience
of 800. Helen Hayes accepted a role in one of the plays, which also had a small
part for a child. Her son was asked if he would like to do it, and agreed.
Acting career
He made his stage debut at Olney, Maryland, in 1949, with
a two-week stint in The Corn Is Green. His sister Mary was in the play
and telephoned their mother to request that James go to Olney to be in it with
her. The following summer, he repeated the role at Dennis, Massachusetts, and
his theatrical career was underway. In 1954, he played John Day in Life with
Father with Howard Lindsay and Dorothy Stickney. He became involved in
important Broadway productions only after receiving his training in summer
stock.
He also worked as a set painter, lighting director and
chief of the parking lot. During a Helen Hayes festival at the Falmouth
Playhouse on Cape Cod, he had a few walk-on parts. He also helped the theatre
electrician and grew so interested that he was allowed to stay on after his
mother's plays had ended. As a result, he lighted the show for Barbara Bel
Geddes in The Little Hut and for Gloria Vanderbilt in The Swan.
When he visited Paris with his mother as a member of The Skin of Our Teeth
Company, he was in charge of making thunder backstage with a sheet of metal.
At the age of 18, he played Hal Ditmar in the television
play, Deal a Blow, directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Macdonald
Carey, Phyllis Thaxter and Edward Arnold. In 1956, Frankenheimer directed the
movie version of the play, which was renamed The Young Stranger, with
MacArthur again in the starring role. Again his performance was critically
acclaimed, earning him a nomination for Most Promising Newcomer at the 1958
BAFTA awards. He made The Light in the Forest and Third Man on the
Mountain, for Walt Disney, during summer breaks from Harvard University,
where he was studying history. Deciding to make acting his full-time career, he
left Harvard in his sophomore year to make two more Disney movies, Kidnapped
and Swiss Family Robinson. In February 2003, Conrad Richter's novel The
Light in the Forest was one of the books selected for Ohio's One Book,
Two Counties project. MacArthur was a guest speaker, and talked of how the
book was turned into the film and of his experiences making the movie.
He made his Broadway debut in 1960, playing opposite Jane
Fonda in Invitation to a March, for which he received a Theater World
Award. Although he never returned to Broadway, he remained active in theatre,
appearing in such productions as Under the Yum Yum Tree, The Moon Is
Blue, John Loves Mary (with his then wife, Joyce Bulifant), Barefoot
in the Park and Murder at the Howard Johnson's. He then went on to
star in such movies as The Interns, Spencer's Mountain, The
Truth About Spring and Cry of Battle, as well as The Love-Ins
and The Angry Breed. On the set of The Angry Breed, in 1968,
MacArthur met Melody Patterson, who was to become his second wife. They were
married on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, in July 1970, but divorced several
years later. In 1963, he was nominated for the "Top New Male
Personality" category of the Golden Laurel Awards.
Between movie and theatre roles, MacArthur was also in
demand for television guest appearances, which included parts in Studio One,
G.E. Theatre, Bus Stop the play, Bus Stop the television
series, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, The Eleventh
Hour, The Great Adventure, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Combat!,
The Virginian. In 1966 he guest-starred as Lt. Harley Wilson in the
"The Outsider", episode 20 in the second season of 12 O-Clock High
(TV series). He co-starred with his mother Helen Hayes in the 1968 episode
"The Pride of the Lioness" on the Tarzan television series.
MacArthur also gave a particularly chilling performance as baby-faced opium
dealer "Johnny Lubin" in The Untouchables episode, "Death
For Sale".
Though not all his movie parts were starring roles, and
some were quite brief, they were usually pivotal to the plot. His role in The
Bedford Incident was that of a young ensign who becomes so rattled by the
needling of his Captain (Richard Widmark) that he accidentally fires an ASROC
at a Soviet submarine, thus (we are given to understand) starting World War III.
In Battle of the Bulge he again played the role of
a young and inexperienced officer. This time, however, the officer finds
courage and a sense of responsibility. His brief but memorable appearance in
the Clint Eastwood movie, Hang 'Em High eventually led to his role as
Dan Williams in Hawaii Five-O, popularizing the catch phrase "Book
'em Danno."
Hawaii Five-O
In 1967, Leonard Freeman, the producer and co-writer of Hang
'Em High, made the pilot for a new television cop show, Hawaii Five-O.
Before it went to air, the pilot was well received by test audiences, except
for some dislike of the actor playing Dan Williams. Freeman remembered
MacArthur's portrayal of the traveling preacher in Hang 'Em High: He had
come on the set and done the scene in one take. He called MacArthur and offered
him the role of Dan Williams. Hawaii Five-O ran for twelve years—eleven
with MacArthur. Leaving Hawaii Five-O at the end of its eleventh season,
MacArthur returned to the theatre, appearing in The Lunch Hour with Cybill
Shepherd.
Post- Hawaii Five-O
He appeared in A Bedfull of Foreigners in Chicago
in 1984, and in Michigan in 1985. He followed this with The Hasty Heart,
before taking a year out of show business. In 1987, he returned to the stage in
The Foreigner, then played Mortimer in the national tour of Arsenic
and Old Lace with Jean Stapleton, Marion Ross and Larry Storch. In 1989, he
followed another stint in The Foreigner with Love Letters and, in
1990–1991, A Bedfull of Foreigners, this time in Las Vegas.
After leaving Hawaii Five-O, McArthur
guest-starred on such television shows as Murder, She Wrote, The Love
Boat, Fantasy Island and Vega$, as well as in the mini series
Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story and The Night the Bridge Fell Down,
and in the 1998 television movie Stormchasers: Revenge of the Twister,
with Kelly McGillis.
Semi-retirement
Throughout his career, MacArthur had also found time for
various other ventures. From 1959–60, he partnered with actor James Franciscus
and Alan Ladd, Jr. in a Beverly Hills telephone answering service; in June
1972, he directed The Honolulu Community Theatre in a production of his
father's play The Front Page, and, for a period in the 1990s he was
part-owner of Senior World publication, as well as writing the occasional
celebrity interview. He continued to appear at conventions, collectors' shows,
and celebrity sporting events. A keen golfer, he was the winner of the 2002
Frank Sinatra Invitational Charity Golf Tournament.
He also appeared in television and radio specials and
interview programs. His latest appearances included spots on Entertainment
Tonight, Christopher's Closeup and the BBC Radio 5 Live obituary
program Brief Lives, in which he paid tribute to his Hawaii Five-O
castmate, the late Kam Fong. In 1997, MacArthur returned without Jack Lord (who
was in declining health) to reprise his character, who had become Hawaii's
Governor in the plot, in the 1997 unaired pilot of Hawaii Five-O which
starred actor Gary Busey. In April 2003, he traveled to Honolulu's historic
Hawaii Theatre for a cameo role in Joe Moore's play Dirty Laundry.
Negotiations were underway in summer 2010 for MacArthur to make a cameo
appearance in the new CBS prime time remake of Hawaii Five-0 at the time
of his death, a role that eventually was given to Al Harrington. On the
November 1, 2010 episode, MacArthur's death was mentioned in a short tribute
that played before the start of that episode.
In 2001, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs,
California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.
Death
MacArthur died of natural causes on October 28, 2010, at
the age of 72, at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. He was survived by
his third wife, H. B. Duntz, and his four children and six grandchildren. The
episode "Ho'apono" from the 2010 version of Hawaii Five-0 was
dedicated to MacArthur.
He is interred in Nyack, New York's Oak Hill Cemetery.
Filmography
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
1955
|
Climax!
|
Hal Ditmar
|
Deal a Blow
|
1957
|
The Arthur Murray Party
|
Self
|
April 30, 1957
|
1957
|
The Young Stranger
|
Harold James
'Hal' Ditmar
|
|
1958
|
General
Electric Theater
|
Johnny Dundeen
|
The Young and
the Scared
|
1958
|
Studio One
|
Jim Gibson
|
Ticket to
Tahiti
|
1958
|
Studio One
|
Ben Adams
|
Tongues of
Angels
|
1958
|
The Light in the Forest
|
Johnny
Butler/True Son
|
|
1959
|
Westinghouse
Desilu Playhouse
|
Jamsie Corcoran
|
The Innocent
Assassin
|
1959
|
Third Man on
the Mountain
|
Rudi Matt
|
|
1959
|
Wagon Train
|
(uncredited)
|
The Jenny
Tannen Story
|
1960
|
Kidnapped
|
David Balfour
|
|
1960
|
Night of the
Auk
|
Lt. Mac Hartman
|
|
1960
|
Swiss Family
Robinson
|
Fritz Robinson
|
|
1960
|
Play of the
Week
|
Lieutenant Max
|
Night of the
Auk
|
1961
|
Walt Disney's
Wonderful World of Color
|
Johnny
Butler/True Son
|
Archive footage
Light in the Forest: True Son's Revenge |
1961
|
Play of the
Week
|
Lt. Max Hartman
|
Night of the
Auk
|
1961
|
The Untouchables
|
Johnny Lubin
|
Death for
Sale
|
1961
|
Bus Stop
|
Thomas 'Tom'
Quincy Hagan
|
And the
Pursuit of Evil
|
1962
|
Insight
|
Jim Brown
|
The Sophomore
|
1962
|
Wagon Train
|
Dick Pederson
|
The Dick
Pederson Story
|
1962
|
The Interns
|
Dr. Lew Worship
|
|
1962
|
The Dick Powell Show
|
Jack Doffer
|
The Court
Martial of Captain Wycliff
|
1963
|
Walt Disney's
Wonderful World of Color
|
Rudi Matt
|
Archive footage
Banner in the Sky: To Conquer the Mountain |
1963
|
Walt Disney's
Wonderful World of Color
|
Rudi Matt
|
Archive footage
Banner in the Sky: The Killer Mountain |
1963
|
Walt Disney's
Wonderful World of Color
|
David Balfour
|
Archive footage
Kidnapped: Part 1 |
1963
|
Walt Disney's
Wonderful World of Color
|
David Balfour
|
Archife footage
Kidnapped: Part 2 |
1963
|
Sam Benedict
|
Bert Stover
|
Some Fires
Die Slowly
|
1963
|
Spencer's
Mountain
|
Clayboy Spencer
|
|
1963
|
Arrest and
Trial
|
Deke Palmer
|
A Shield is
for Hiding Behind
|
1963
|
Cry of Battle
|
David McVey
|
|
1963
|
Amos Burke:
Secret Agent
|
Larry Forsythe
|
Who Killed
the Kind Doctor?
|
1963
|
The Eleventh Hour
|
Mason Walker
|
La Belle
Indifference
|
1963
|
The Great Adventure
|
Lieutenant
Alexander
|
The Hunley
|
1964
|
The Great Adventure
|
Rodger Young
|
Rodger Young
|
1964
|
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
|
Dave Snowden
|
Behind the
Locked Door
|
1965
|
The Truth About Spring
|
William Ashton
|
|
1965
|
The Bedford Incident
|
Ensign Ralston
|
|
1965
|
The Virginian
|
Johnny Bradford
|
Jennifer
|
1965
|
Battle of the
Bulge
|
Lieutenant
Weaver
|
|
1966
|
Ride Beyond
Vengeance
|
The Census Taker
|
|
1966
|
Branded
|
Lt. Laurence
|
A Destiny
Which Made Us Brothers
|
1966
|
12 O'Clock
High
|
Lt. Wilson
|
The Outsider
|
1966
|
Gunsmoke
|
David McGovern
|
Harvest
|
1967
|
Dateline:
Hollywood
|
Self
|
June 19, 1967
|
1967
|
Walt Disney's
Wonderful World of Color
|
Cpl. Henry
Jenkins
|
Willie and
the Yank: The Deserter
Willie and the Yank: The Mosby Raiders |
1967
|
Combat!
|
Jack Cole
|
Encounter
|
1967
|
The Love-Ins
|
Larry Osborne
|
|
1967
|
Insight
|
Billy Thorp
|
Some Talk
About Pool Rooms and Gin Mills
|
1967
|
Hondo
|
Judd Barton
|
Hondo and the
Mad Dog
|
1967
|
Tarzan
|
Dr. Richard
Wilson
|
The Pride of
the Lioness
|
1967
|
Bonanza
|
Jason 'Jase'
Fredericks
|
Check Rein
|
1967
|
Death Valley
Days
|
Kit Carson
|
Spring
Rendezvous
|
1968
|
Death Valley
Days
|
Kit Carson
|
The Indian
Girl
|
1968
|
The Angry Breed
|
Deek Stacey
|
|
1968
|
Premiere
|
Russ Faine
|
Lassiter
|
1968
|
Hang 'Em High
|
The Preacher
|
|
1968–
1979 |
Hawaii Five-O
|
Det. Danny
Williams
|
259 episodes
|
1971
|
The Movie Game
|
Self
|
June 28, 1971
July 4, 1971 |
1971
|
The Hollywood Squares
|
Self
|
April 12, 1971
|
1972
|
The Hollywood Squares
|
Self
|
March 6, 1972
|
1973
|
The Hollywood Squares
|
Self
|
January 1, 1973
|
1977
|
Battle of the
Network Stars III
|
Self
|
|
1978
|
Battle of the
Network Stars IV
|
Self
|
|
1978
|
Fantasy
Island
|
Fantasy Island
|
The Funny
Girl/Butch and Sundance
|
1979
|
Time Express
|
Dr. Mark Toland
|
Garbage
Man/Doctor's Wife
|
1979
|
The Love Boat
|
Chet Hanson
|
The Spider
Serenade/The Wife Next Door/The Harder They Fall
|
1980
|
34th Annual
Tony Awards
|
Self
|
|
1980
|
Alcatraz: The
Whole Shocking Story
|
Walt Stomer
|
|
1980
|
The Love Boat
|
Scott Burgess
|
The
Caller/The Marriage of Convenience/No Girls for Doc/Witness for the
Prosecution
|
1981
|
Fantasy
Island
|
Bob Graham
|
The
Heroine/The Warrior
|
1981
|
Vega$
|
Jerry Lang
|
Heist
|
1981
|
Walking Tall
|
Father Adair
|
The Fire
Within
|
1981
|
The Littlest Hobo
|
Jim Haley
|
Trail of No
Return
|
1983
|
The Scheme of Things
|
Self
|
|
1983
|
The Night the Bridge Fell Down
|
Cal Miller
|
|
1983
|
The Love Boat
|
Paul Krakauer
|
I Don't Play
Anymore/Gopher's Roommate/Crazy for You
|
1984
|
Murder, She
Wrote
|
Alan Gephardt
|
Hooray for
Homicide
|
1985
|
The Love Boat
|
Marc Silver
|
Vicki's
Gentleman Caller/Partners to the End/The Perfect Arrangement
|
1989
|
The Adventures of Superboy
|
Hogan
|
Birdwoman of
the Swamps
|
1991
|
JFK
|
uncredited David
McVey
|
Archive footage Cry
of Battle
|
1991
|
American
Masters
|
Self
|
Helen Hayes:
First Lady of the American Theatre
|
1994
|
The Wonderful World of
Disney: 40 Years of Television Magic
|
Self
|
|
1997
|
Hawaii Five-O
(1997 pilot)
|
Governor Danny
Williams
|
Unsold pilot
episode
|
1997
|
Light Lunch
|
Self
|
70 Super Cops
|
1998
|
Storm
Chasers: Revenge of the Twister
|
Frank Del Rio
|
|
2002
|
Swiss Family
Robinson: Adventure in the Making
|
Narrator
|
Special thanks
|
2002
|
Inside
TVLand: 40 Greatest Theme Songs
|
Self
|
|
2002
|
Inside TVLand:
Cops on Camera
|
Self
|
|
2005
|
The 100 Greatest Family Films
|
Self
|
|
2006
|
The 100 TV Quotes and
Greatest Catch Phases
|
Self
|
|
2007
|
Entertainment
and TVLand Present: The 50 Greatest TV Icons
|
Self
|
|
2008
|
The Age of Believing:
The Disney Live Action Classics
|
Self
|
Grateful thanks
|
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