LA actor James Whitmore famed for his one-man stage shows and an Oscar-nominated turn as US President Harry Truman, died on Friday at age 87. The actor died of lung cancer at his home at the seaside enclave of Malibu just northwest of Los Angeles with which he was diagnosed with the disease a week before Thanksgiving according to his son, Steve Whitmore.
James Whitmore was born in White Plains, NY on Oct. 1, 1921 and then later moved to Buffalo, NY, where he attended public schools until his senior year of high school, when he attended the Choate School in Wallingford, Conn., on a football scholarship. He was a pre-law major on the athletic scholarship at Yale University but had to quit playing football after suffering two week knee injuries.
Whitmore served in the Marine Corps during World War II and began appearing in stage productions in New Hampshire in the late 1940s. The actor made his Broadway debut in Command Decision in 1947, and earned a Tony Award for best performance by a newcomer. He picked up an Oscar nomination for a supporting role in his first major movie combat drama The Battleground, and an Academy Award nomination as best lead actor for his 1975 portrait of Truman in Give 'em Hell Harry!
James Whitmore was known better as a younger generation of TV viewers as the longtime commercial spokesperson for the plant food brand Miracle-Gro. He also earned an Emmy Award as a guest actor in a drama series for an episode of The Practice.
So long to our long time actor. He is now in the place where all of us will go after life.
James Whitmore IMDB
James Whitmore Wikipedia
