John Hillerman

John Benedict Hillerman (December 20, 1932 – November 9, 2017) was an American actor best known for his starring role as Jonathan Quayle Higgins IIIon the television show Magnum, P.I. that aired from 1980 to 1988. For his role as Higgins, Hillerman earned five Golden Globe nominations, winning in 1981, and four Emmy nominations, winning in 1987. He retired from acting in 1999.
== Early life and career ==
Hillerman was born in Denison, Texas, the son of Christopher Benedict Hillerman, a gas station owner, and Lenora Joan (née Medlinger).[1] He was the middle child with two sisters.[2] His father was the grandson of immigrants from Germany and France,[3] and his mother the daughter of immigrants from Austriaand Germany.[3] Hillerman developed an interest in opera at the age of ten, and traveled to Dallas to watch Metropolitan Opera productions.[4] He attended St. Xavier's Academy,[4] and after graduation, he attended the University of Texas at Austin for three years, majoring in journalism.[5]
Hillerman served four years in the United States Air Force (1953–1957), working in maintenance in a B-36 wing of the Strategic Air Command, and achieving the rank of sergeant.[4][6] He became interested in acting after working with a theatrical group in Fort Worth during his service: "I was bored with barracks life. I got into [acting] to meet people in town. A light went on."[4] After his 1957 discharge, he moved to New York City to study at the American Theatre Wing, and performed in professional theater for the next twelve years, in productions such as Henry IV, Part 2 and The Great God Brown.[7] Despite over 100 stage roles,[4] Hillerman was unable to make a living as a stage actor, and he moved to Hollywood in 1969.[4][6]
== Career ==
=== Film ===
Hillerman made his film debut in They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) in an uncredited role as a reporter.[8] Director Peter Bogdanovich, with whom Hillerman had previously worked during his stage career, cast Hillerman in his films The Last Picture Show, What's Up, Doc?, and Paper Moon.[4] Hillerman worked steadily thereafter in motion pictures and television through the 1970s, including notable supporting roles in the 1974 films Chinatown and Blazing Saddles.[2] After being cast in Magnum, P.I., he shot only four additional pictures between 1980 and 1996, with his final film performance coming in A Very Brady Sequel.
=== Television ===
In 1975, Hillerman was a co-star in Ellery Queen as Simon Brimmer, a radio detective who hosted a radio show and tried to outsmart the title character (Jim Hutton).[9]:305 From 1976 to 1980, he had a recurring role as Mr. Conners on the sitcom One Day at a Time, and he co-starred as Betty White's estranged husband on The Betty White Show (1977–1978).[9] He is perhaps best remembered for his role as former British Army Sergeant Major Jonathan Higgins in Magnum, P.I.(1980–1988),[9]:642 for which he learned to speak in the educated middle/upper class English accent known as Received Pronunciation, the King's or Queen's English by listening to a recording of Laurence Olivier reciting Hamlet.[10][note 1]He considered Higgins his favorite role,[11] and described the character in a 1988 interview as "think[ing] he's the only sane character [in the show], and everyone else is stark raving mad."[4]
In 1982, Hillerman starred in the television pilot of Tales of the Gold Monkey, as a German villain named Fritz the Monocle.[12] He hosted the 1984 David Hemmings-directed puzzle video Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link.[13] In 1990, Hillerman returned to television as Lloyd Hogan in the sixth and final season of the sitcom The Hogan Family.[9]:465 That same year, he portrayed Dr. Watson to Edward Woodward's Sherlock Holmes in Hands of a Murderer.[12]
In 1993, he appeared in Berlin Break for one season.[10] He played the role of Mac MacKenzie, a former spy and currently the proprietor of Mac's, a bar in West Berlin considered to be neutral territory during the Cold War.[9] Mac teamed up with two jobless spies as investigators: Valentin Renko (Nicholas Clay), an ex-KGB agent, and Willy Richter (Kai Wulff), an ex-BND (West German secret service) operative.[6] The show reunited him with Jeff MacKay, who portrayed "Mac" MacReynolds in Magnum P.I..[14] Mr. Hillerman also appeared in an episode of Little House on the Prairie called "The Pen and Plow".
== Later years and death ==
After Hillerman retired from acting in 1999, he returned to his home state of Texas.[11] On November 9, 2017, he died of cardiovascular disease at his Houston home, at the age of 84.[2][15]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1970	They Call Me Mister Tibbs! 	Reporter 	Uncredited
1971	Lawman 	Totts 	
1971	The Last Picture Show 	Teacher 	
1971	Honky 	 	
1972	What's Up, Doc? 	Hotel Manager Kaltenborn 	
1972	The Carey Treatment 	Jenkins 	
1972	Skyjacked 	Walter Brandt 	
1972	The Outside Man 	Department Store Manager 	
1973	The Thief Who Came to Dinner	Edmund Lasker 	
1973	High Plains Drifter 	Bootmaker 	
1973	Paper Moon 	Deputy Hardin / Jess Hardin	
1973	The Naked Ape 	Psychiatrist 	
1974	Blazing Saddles 	Howard Johnson 	
1974	The Nickel Ride 	Carl 	
1974	Chinatown 	Russ Yelburton 	
1975	At Long Last Love 	Rodney James 	
1975	The Day of the Locust 	Ned Grote 	
1975	Lucky Lady 	McTeague 	
1977	Audrey Rose 	Scott Velie 	
1979	Sunburn 	Webb 	
1981	History of the World, Part I	Rich Man 	(The French Revolution)
1984	Up the Creek 	Dean Burch 	
1989	Gummibärchen küßt man nicht 	Padre 	
1996	A Very Brady Sequel 	Dr. Whitehead 	(final film role)
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1971 	Sweet, Sweet Rachel 	Medical Examiner 	Television film
1972 	The Sixth Sense 	Adrian Weems 	Episode: "Once Upon a Chilling"
1972 	Mannix 	Larry Lawton 	Episode: "Light and Shadow"
1972 	The Great Man's Whiskers 	Major Underwood 	Television film
1973 	Mannix 	J. H. Morell 	Episode: "Silent Target"
1974 	Maude 	Drunk 	Episode: "The Commuter Station"
1974 	Kojak 	Mark Gallant 	Episode: "The Only Way Out"
1974 	The Law 	Thomas Rachel 	Television film
1975 	Mannix 	Norman Thompson 	Episode: "Search for a Dead Man"
1975 	The Bob Crane Show 	Dean Harrington 	Episode: "The Son of the Campus Capers"
1975–1976	Ellery Queen 	Simon Brimmer 	8 episodes
1976 	Serpico 	Raoul Christie 	Episode: "Rapid Fire"
1976 	Hawaii Five-O 	Donald Blair 	Episode: "Man on Fire"
1976 	Wonder Woman 	Conrad Steigler 	Episode: "Wonder Woman vs Gargantua"
1976–1980	One Day at a Time 	Mr. Connors 	6 episodes
1977 	Delvecchio 	Dr. Augustus Hamilton	Episode: "Licensed to Kill"
1977–1978	The Betty White Show 	John Elliott 	14 episodes
1978 	Hawaii Five-O 	Nelson Bodine 	Episode: "A Stranger in His Grave"
1978 	Little House on the Prairie	Sterling Murdock 	Episode: "Harriet's Happening"
1979 	The Love Boat 	Ed Hartnett 	2 episodes
1979 	Beane's of Boston 	John Peacock 	Pilot
1980 	Soap 	Minister 	Episode: "3.12"
1980 	Young Maverick 	McBurney 	Episode: "Makin' Tracks"
1980 	Hart to Hart 	Victor Sutter 	Episode: "Cruise At Your Own Risk"
1980 	Tenspeed and Brown Shoe 	William Whitney 	Episode: "Diamonds Aren't Forever"
1980 	Lou Grant 	Sturbridge 	Episode: "Pack"
1980–1988	Magnum, P.I. 	Jonathan Higgins 	158 episodes
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1983, 1985, 1987–1988)
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (1984–1986)
1982 	Tales of the Gold Monkey 	Monocle 	2 episodes
1982 	Simon & Simon 	Jonathan Higgins 	Episode: "Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend"
1983 	The Love Boat 	Manfred 	Episode: "The Last Case"
1986 	Murder, She Wrote 	Jonathan Higgins 	Episode: "Magnum on Ice"
1987 	Assault and Matrimony 	Neighbor, Cyril 	Television film
1989 	Around the World in 80 Days	Sir Francis Commarty 	3 episodes
1990 	Hands of a Murderer 	Dr. John Watson 	Television film
1990–1991	The Hogan Family 	Lloyd Hogan 	13 episodes
1992 	Murder, She Wrote 	Edgar Greenstreet 	Episode: "Murder on Madison Avenue"
== Awards and nominations ==
Year 	Award 	Nominated work 	Result
Primetime Emmy Awards	Primetime Emmy Awards 	Primetime Emmy Awards	Primetime Emmy Awards
1984 	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 	Magnum, P.I. 	Nominated[19]
1985 	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 	Magnum, P.I. 	Nominated[20]
1986 	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 	Magnum, P.I. 	Nominated[21]
1987 	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 	Magnum, P.I. 	Won[22]
Golden Globe Awards 	Golden Globe Awards 	Golden Globe Awards 	Golden Globe Awards
1982 	Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Magnum, P.I. 	Won[23]
1983 	Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Magnum, P.I. 	Nominated[23]
1985 	Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Magnum, P.I. 	Nominated[23]
1987 	Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Magnum, P.I. 	Nominated[23]
1988 	Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Magnum, P.I. 	Nominated[23]