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Jim Backus
Jimbackus

Jim Backus in 1970's TV show publicity photo

Personal Information
Birthname: James Gilmore Backus
Gender: Male
Born: (1913-02-25)February 25, 1913
Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died: July 3, 1989(1989-07-03) (aged 76)
Deathplace: Los Angeles, CA, U.S.
Occupation/
Career:
Actor, Voice artist
Years active: 1937-1989
Character/Series involvement
Series: Gilligan's Island
Episodes appeared in
(and/or) involved with:
99 episodes (Seasons 1-3)
Character played: Thurston Howell III/Gold Prospector



Actor Jim Backus (February 25, 1913 - July 3, 1989) played Thurston Howell III on the CBS-TV series Gilligan's Island. Among his most famous roles are the voice of nearsighted cartoon character Mr. Magoo, the rich Hubert Updike III on the NBC radio version of The Alan Young Show in the 1940's, Joan Davis's character's husband (a domestic court judge) on the 1952-55 NBC-TV sitcom series I Married Joan and James Dean's character's father in the classic 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause. He also starred in his own show of one season, The Jim Backus Show, also known as Hot off the Wire.

An avid golfer, Backus made the 36-hole cut at the 1964 Bing Crosby Pro-Am tournament.

Backus had an extensive career and worked steadily in Hollywood over five decades, often portraying characters with an "upper-crust", New England-like air, such as Thurston Howell, III in Gilligan's Island. He appeared in A Dangerous Profession (1949) (as well as narrating), Deadline – U.S.A. (1951), with Humphrey Bogart, Pat and Mike (1952), with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957), and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). He also made appearances on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962).

Backus was the voice of the nearsighted cartoon character Mr. Magoo. In 1952, he had a brief scene in Don't Bother to Knock with Marilyn Monroe. Years later, when Backus was a frequent talk show guest, he would recount the time Monroe urgently beckoned him into her dressing room. Once there, she exclaimed in her breathy voice, "Do Mr. Magoo!".

Jim frequently could be heard on prime-time radio programs in the postwar era, including The Jack Benny Program, and portrayed an exceedingly vain character named Hartley Benson on The Mel Blanc Show on the CBS Radio Network; as well as a similar character named Hubert Updike on The Alan Young Show on the NBC Radio Network. He also starred on the short lived variety program The Jim Backus Show on the ABC Radio Network in 1957 and 1958, when that network changed its name to ABN (The American Broadcasting Network) and tried out a "Live and Lively" format of "Big Time Radio" with orchestras and audiences.

n stark contrast to his usual affluent characters, he appeared on The Brady Bunch as an old gold prospector, a role he also played on a Gilligan's Island episode. He also appeared in the final season episode "The Hustler"', in which he plays Mike's boss, Mr. Matthews

Jim stayed with Gilligan's Island between 1964 and 1967 and did revivals of the TV series in TV films made between 1978 and 1982 (though in the third and final film, The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, ill health forced him to only make a cameo appearance). He also did revivals of Mr. Magoo from 1964 to 1977, which included The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo and What's New, Mr. Magoo.

In 1977, Backus appeared in "Never Con a Killer," the pilot for the ABC crime drama The Feather and Father Gang.

Death

On July 3, 1989, Backus died in Los Angeles, California from complications of pneumonia, after suffering from Parkinson's disease for many years. Jim was buried at the southwest corner of Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles.

External links

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