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Actor Had Many Talents

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The New York Times

Published: February 8, 2009

James Whitmore, a leading character actor whose craggy face became a familiar one to film, television and stage audiences for decades and who won wide acclaim for a pair of one-man performances, as the humorist Will Rogers and a vinegary Harry S. Truman, died Friday at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 87.

Whitmore found success early. He won a Tony Award for his performance in his Broadway debut, as a wisecracking headquarters sergeant in "Command Decision," a 1947 play about the air bombardment of Germany during World War II. In 1949's "Battleground," his performance as a hard-bitten GI during the Battle of the Bulge was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actor.

During the 1970s, Whitmore gave three solo stage performances that underlined his ability to go beyond surface details. In "Will Rogers' U.S.A." (1974), the first of these one-man shows, he brought the homespun humorist to vibrant life on Broadway, his only props being a cowboy hat, a rope and a cheekful of chewing gum.

The following year he took to the stage as an outspoken President Truman in "Give 'Em Hell, Harry!" That show was promptly filmed, and Whitmore received his second Oscar nomination, this time for best actor.

Then it was another president's turn. In "Bully" (1977), Whitmore played Theodore Roosevelt, a man he summed up at the time as "the most neglected important president in our history."

Besides the one in "Battleground," his film roles included a police inspector who may be up to no good in "Madigan" (1968); Admiral William F. Halsey in "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (1970), and an elderly convict and prison librarian in "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994).

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