[10], Hingle had a long list of television and film credits to his name dating to 1948. PAT HINGLE ON STAGE; Appears For First Time Since His Accident Last Year, https://www.nytimes.com/1960/01/21/archives/pat-hingle-on-stage-appears-for-first-time-since-his-accident-last.html. When the curtain goes up, there are those crazy actors. I spent time in a textile mill for ''Norma Rae'' and it helped me enormously.''. Without taking over a scene, Hingle has a way of registering his character`s presence in a movie even when his screen time is limited. &dquo;I know that if I had played Elmer Gantry, I would have been more of a movie name,&dquo; he once told the New York Times. [2] He attended Weslaco High School, where he played tuba in the band. His break came in 1955 when Elia Kazan, one of the co-founders of the Actors Studio, cast him as the scheming son Gooper in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.. ''I couldn`t say no, but I had to. Burt Lancaster played it instead because 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 . Hingle died Saturday night of myelodysplasia, a type of blood cancer, at his home in Carolina Beach, N.C., according to Lynn Heritage, a cousin who was acting as a spokesperson for the family. A freak accident‐a 5-story fall down an elevator shaft‐sidelined his shot at Gantry. He served on the destroyer USS Marshall during World War II. He was married to Julie Wright from 1979 until his death in 2009. She then began to travel (with her son in tow) in search of more lucrative work; by age 13 Hingle had lived in a dozen cities. Hingle was a close friend of Clint Eastwood and appeared in the Eastwood films Hang 'em High, The Gauntlet, and Sudden Impact. [1], Hingle began acting in college, and after graduating, he moved to New York and studied at HB Studio[5] and the American Theatre Wing. But in three weeks time, I saw Walter Huston (Anjelica Hustons grandfather) and Hume Cronyn in about 10 movies and I saw that it was possible to play a wide variety of roles where there was no connections between one or the other; they werent put in a slot . Ive had exactly the kind of career I hoped for.. three years I did 35 plays and in one of those plays I finally realized The couple later divorced. He. From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, "Pat Hingle dies at 84; veteran actor was perhaps best known for 'Batman' role", https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pat_Hingle&oldid=8589963, Internet Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata, Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Im afraid for her life: Riverside CC womens coach harassed after Title IX suit, Six people, including mother and baby, killed in Tulare County; drug cartel suspected, Want to solve climate change? Accident [] In 1960, he had been offered the title role in Elmer Gantry, but Burt Lancaster filled the part because Hingle had been in a near-fatal accident. I know how deflating it is. Full text is unavailable for this digitized archive article. When Hingle fell in 1959 (''It was 53 feet, not 30 feet like it says here,'' he noted with the rueful smile of a man who has a painful acquaintance with the difference), he seemed destined for the heights of his profession. Two years later, Kazan cast him in William Inges The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, which became a major Broadway hit and earned Hingle a Tony Award nomination. Hingle is survived by Julia, his wife of 29 years; five children; 11 grandchildren; and two sisters. He was 84. After serving in the Navy during WW II, he went back to the university and got involved with the drama department as a way to meet girls. It was at university that he joined the drama department - "in order to meet girls". ", he recalled). The future Tony Award After the war, he returned to college but switched majors after observing that every pretty girl he saw was headed toward the universitys theater department. When the need is for a stern father figure and man of traditional values, it is almost a Hollywood reflex to call Hingle`s agent. In February 1959, while playing J.B. on Broadway, Hingle was seriously injured in an accident. With his wife Alyce (whom he first met at the university), Hingle moved to New York and began to get jobs on the stage and on TV. Mr. Hingle was a self-described workaholic, and over the years he took so many roles that he said he forgot details about some of the characters. Hingle enlisted in the U.S. Navy in December 1941, dropping out of the University of Texas. Then he managed to crawl out, but he fell down the shaft and was severely injured. He is one of only two actors to appear in the four Batman films from 1989 to 1997; the other is Michael Gough. It was during the run of "J.B." that Hingle took an accidental plunge down the elevator shaft of his New York apartment building, sustaining near-fatal injuries in the 54-foot fall. I`ve been given a blessing that is not given to many men.''. His break came in 1955 when Elia Kazan, one of the co-founders of the Actors Studio, cast him as the scheming son Gooper in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.. B.,' Hurt In 30-Foot Fall From Elevator; Actor Is in Critical Condition After Plunge Down Shaft From Stalled Car, https://www.nytimes.com/1959/02/21/archives/pat-hingle-star-of-j-b-hurt-in-30foot-fall-from-elevator-actor-is.html. In 1997, Mr. Hingle portrayed Benjamin Franklin in the Broadway revival of the musical 1776. Above, Mr. Hingle as Franklin with Brent Spiner, right, as John Adams. Only a chosen few had the body of work that he had, Morrison told The Times on Sunday. [6], On Broadway, Hingle originated the role of Gooper in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955). He returned to the University of Texas after the war and earned a degree in radio broadcasting in 1949. The cause was myelodysplasia, a blood disorder, his wife, Julia, said. The stage is an actors medium, he told The Times some years ago. by age 13 Hingle had lived in a dozen cities. He and his second wife had two children. Pat Hingle, a versatile character actor of stage and screen who became accustomed to winning critical praise in a career that spanned five decades, died on Saturday at his home in Carolina Beach, N.C. [7], Hingle appeared in the 1963 Actors Studio production of Strange Interlude, directed by Jose Quintero, and That Championship Season (1972). October 25, 1979 - January 3, 2009 (his death), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Also in cast: After one [college] semester I went into the Navy for four years in the He was near death for two weeks (and lost the little finger of his left hand); his recovery took more than a year. He missed and fell back down the elevator shaft, plunging 30 feet to the bottom. Accident. She then Actor Pat Hingle died Saturday night after a battle with blood cancer. . began to travel (with her son in tow) in search of more lucrative work; But there go those galloping actors., Hingles friend Morrison recalled him Sunday as a great listener., The great actors have this and he taught me this. Pat Hingle, Star of 'J. In 1960, he had been offered the title role in Elmer Gantry, but Burt Lancaster filled the part because Hingle had been in a near-fatal accident. There were the Gary Coopers and the Clark Gables, but they didnt really appeal to me, he told the Washington Post some years ago. For the whole 20 years the series was on the air from 1955 until 1975, he appeared in an impressive 605 of 635 episodes, according to IMBD . Hingle was married two times; first to Alyce Faye Dorsey in 1947 until they divorced in 1972. His parents divorced when The director can pull his hair in the back of the house and the producer and the playwright can cry on each others shoulders. When the war in Korea began he was recalled by the Navy, serving as a boilerman technician. Pat sustained near fatal injuries, lost the little finger on his left hand and the role to Burt Lancaster. The fans know the name that goes with the face, but that wasn`t always the case. Pat Hingle (real name: Martin Patterson Hingle) was born in Miami, Florida, the son of a building contractor. He tried to crawl out, lost his balance and fell 54ft down the shaft. '', ''I think that probably most good actors are character actors,'' he suggested in his familiar baritone during a recent interview. Hingle is survived by Julia, his wife of 29 years; five children; 11 grandchildren; and two sisters. He often played tough authority figures. He played a sprightly Benjamin Franklin in the 1997 Broadway revival of 1776; a gay J. Edgar Hoover in the 1992 HBO movie Citizen Cohn; and Warren Beattys father in the 1961 film Splendor in the Grass.. ''Back in the early days of live TV, the credits were at the end, and the shows would always run late so they would run them very fast. His parents divorced when Hingle was still in his infancy (he never knew his father) and his mother supported the family by teaching school in Denver. got involved with the drama department as a way to meet girls. mother supported the family by teaching school in Denver. It was during the run of "J.B." that Hingle took an accidental plunge down the elevator shaft of his New York apartment building, sustaining near-fatal injuries in the 54-foot fall. As a Navy Reservist, he was recalled to the service during the Korean War and served on the escort destroyer USS Damato. He earned a Tony Award nomination for his performance in Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1957). In Batman and Robin, Hingle is made to fall in love with Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), who wants to get the keys to police headquarters, and who almost kills him with her toxic kiss. Send any friend a story. The stage is an actors medium, he told The Times some years ago. On film, he worked with stars ranging from Clint Eastwood to the Muppets. The elevator stopped four feet above the landing, within reach, and Hingle tried to jump to the second floor. a school play ("At that time it didn't seem like much of a way to make . He needed over a year to recover. After studying with Uta Hagen, Hingle joined the famed Actors Studio, run by Lee Strasberg, in 1952. He was trapped in the elevator of his West End Avenue apartment building when it stalled between the second and third floors. Ive had exactly the kind of career I hoped for.. Martin Patterson Hingle (July 19, 1924 January 3, 2009) was an American character actor who appeared in stage productions and in hundreds of television shows and feature films. The newspaper has long since ceased publication, and the clipping is cracked and yellow with age.