He. He was 84. In the meantime, he was carrying on a parallel career with bigger and better roles in the theatre. Hingle spent much of the next year relearning how to walk, and the Gantry role went to Burt Lancaster. Incredibly, he was back at work almost immediately, albeit with a limp, which he had for the rest of his life. He did meet one in particular, Alyce Dorsey, the stage manager of his first show, whom he married while at college. [6], Hingle married Alyce Faye Dorsey on June 3, 1947. He wasnt a household name, but his solid, broad, hang-dog screen face became a household image. As a Navy Reservist, he was recalled to the service during the Korean War and served on the escort destroyer USS Damato. In exemplary films such as ''Norma Rae'' (1979), in which he portrayed Sally Field`s father, Hingle`s presence makes a measurable contribution to the movie`s impact. He was 84. It was severed in the fall as abruptly as Hingle`s. On film, he worked with stars ranging from Clint Eastwood to the Muppets. Hingle was a close friend of Clint Eastwood and appeared in the Eastwood films Hang 'em High, The Gauntlet, and Sudden Impact. Among the memorable parts were his shady mayor in Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964); his "hanging" judge in Hang 'em High (1968), starring Clint Eastwood; a kidnapped wealthy businessman in Roger Corman's Bloody Mama (1970); the power-mad owner of a neo-fascist radio station in WUSA (1970); and Sally Field's factory-worker father whose death spurs his daughter on to union activity in Norma Rae (1979). He was married to Julie Wright from 1979 until his death in 2009. He was caught in his West End Avenue apartment building in an elevator that had stalled between the second and third floors. The fans know the name that goes with the face, but that wasn`t always the case. The cause was myelodysplasia, a blood disorder, his wife, Julia, said. Hingle is survived by Julia, his wife of 29 years; five children; 11 grandchildren; and two sisters. The little finger of that hand is missing. Hingle had 3 children with Dorsey; Jody, Billy, and Molly. Martin Patterson "Pat" Hingle (July 19, 1924 - January 3, . A freak accident‐a 5-story fall down an elevator shaft‐sidelined his shot at Gantry. [6] In 1997, he played Benjamin Franklin in the Roundabout Theatre revival of the musical 1776, with Brent Spiner and Gregg Edelman. Hed watch his old movies on television with fascination, he said, because he could never remember whether Im a good guy or a bad guy., Pat Hingle, Versatile Actor With Recurring Role in Batman Movies, Dies at 84, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/arts/05hingle.html. Anyone can read what you share. "But I'm sure I would not have done as many plays as I've done. The elevator stopped four feet above the landing, within reach, and Hingle tried to jump to the second floor. The play, which was directed by Elia Kazan, was still running in 1959 when Mr. Hingle, trying to escape a stalled elevator in his apartment building on the West Side, fell more than 50 feet down the shaft. 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. In 1979 Hingle married Julia Wright. got involved with the drama department as a way to meet girls. 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. He loves his craft so much that he has never repeated his one excursion into directing--an Annenberg Center production of ''Toys in the Attic'' by Lillian Hellman that he undertook five years ago. When the war in Korea began he was recalled by the Navy, serving as a boilerman technician. a school play ("At that time it didn't seem like much of a way to make pat hingle elevator accident. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In 1963, Hingle guest-starred in an episode of The Twilight Zone, "The Incredible World of Horace Ford", as the title character. He lost his balance while trying to crawl out and fell 54 feet down the shaft. In the 1960s, he played both Hector in Troilus and Cressida and Macbeth at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn. There were the Gary Coopers and the Clark Gables, but they didnt really appeal to me, he told the Washington Post some years ago. I`m too much of an actor to be a director. He played Commissioner James Gordon in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman films: Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin. He played the title role in Archibald MacLeish's award-winning Broadway play J.B. (1958), receiving rave reviews. 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. [2] His parents were Marvin Louise (ne Patterson), a schoolteacher and musician, and Clarence Martin Hingle, a building contractor. Only a chosen few had the body of work that he had, Morrison told The Times on Sunday. And few people could have made more of a second lease on life. Who knows?'' by age 13 Hingle had lived in a dozen cities. 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 . (He played the same part in the 1957 film version.). Pat Hingle, who plays the title role in the Broadway hit "J. This page was last changed on 16 December 2022, at 22:23. Hingle graduated from Weslaco High School in Weslaco, Texas in 1942. You were the most important thing when you worked opposite him. He and his second wife had two children. Kazan then cast Hingle in the Broadway premiere of Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955-56) as Gooper, the weak-willed jealous elder brother of Brick (Gazzara). He broke his left leg in three places and lost the little finger on his left hand. With Wright, he had two children. Though not as egregious as the Daily Sport headline "Butler in Dudley Moore Film Dies", referring to the death of Sir John Gielgud, it was inevitable that headlines announcing the death of Pat Hingle, aged 84, would read "Batman's Commissioner Gordon Dies". He fractured his skull, wrist, hip, and most of the ribs on his left side. Pat Hingle, Star of 'J. B.,' Hurt In 30-Foot Fall From Elevator; Actor Is in Critical Condition After Plunge Down Shaft From Stalled Car Feb. 21, 1959 The New York Times Archives See the. His recovery took months, and at first he could not walk without a cane. He fractured his skull, wrist, hip and most of his ribs on his left side, broke his left leg in three places and lost the little finger of his left hand. Hingle was born on July 19, 1924 in Miami, Florida. He was trapped in the elevator of his West End Avenue apartment building when it stalled between the second and third floors. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Atlantic Ocean. October 25, 1979 - January 3, 2009 (his death), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. On film, he worked with stars ranging from Clint Eastwood to the Muppets. Hingle spent much of the next year relearning how to walk, and the Gantry role went to Burt Lancaster. He was near death for two weeks (and lost the little finger of his left hand); his recovery took more than a year. After graduating in 1949, Hingle moved to New York and studied acting with Uta Hagen at Herbert Berghof Studios. Pat sustained near fatal injuries, lost the little finger on his left hand and the role to Burt Lancaster. . The apex of his His father was a building contractor who died when his son was an infant; his widow took her three children all over the country as she worked at menial jobs. It was the most important meeting of Hingle's career. He was near death for two weeks (and lost the little finger of his left hand); his recovery took more than a year. three years I did 35 plays and in one of those plays I finally realized It tells of the star of a Broadway hit who went home to his apartment after the show and fell down an elevator shaft. He later was accepted into the prestigious Actors Studio. He earned rave reviews in J.B. and was offered the title role in the film Elmer Gantry, but then tragedy struck. In 1963, Hingle guest-starred in an episode of The Twilight Zone,"The Incredible World of Horace Ford", as the title character. [7], Hingle's first film role was an uncredited part as bartender Jock in On the Waterfront (1954). Over the next three years, he did 35 plays and found himself more comfortable in the theater than anywhere else. He received a bachelors degree in 1949. Actor PAT HINGLE carved out a long career on stage and screen despite a missing left pinky. It amused Hingle that, after a long and distinguished career on stage, screen and television spanning almost 50 years, he finally gained wide popular recognition in four blockbuster Batman movies. 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. He earned rave reviews in J.B. and was offered the title role in the film Elmer Gantry, but then tragedy struck. He crawled out and sought to reach the second floor corridor but lost his balance and fell fifty-four feet down the shaft. He crawled out and sought to reach the second floor corridor but lost his balance and fell fifty-four feet down the shaft. An admirable instance is his portrayal of Charles Boyce in ''The Falcon and the Snowman,'' based on Robert Lindsey`s 1979 nonfiction best-seller of the same name. I always feel that way. He was near death for two weeks (and lost the little finger of his left hand); his recovery took more than a year. 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. 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. I know that if I had done Elmer Gantry, I would have been more of a movie name. Pat Hingle, the veteran actor with more than half a century of impressive work in theater, film and television who was perhaps best known to a generation of movie fans as Commissioner James Gordon in the first four Batman films, has died. pretty girl I'd say, "Who the hell is that?" He said two actors were responsible for his deciding to become a professional actor. Caught in an elevator in his West End Avenue apartment building that was stalled . Several weeks into the plays run, Hingle became caught in a stalled elevator in his apartment building. 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. that I felt more comfortable than I did anywhere and I was where God He fractured his skull, wrist, hip, and most of the ribs on his left side. After high school, he entered the University of Texas to study advertising but when America entered the second world war he joined the navy. ''You`d go to a restaurant and they couldn`t place you. Pat Hingle holds the worn piece of paper in his left hand, but he really needs no reminder. Send any friend a story. Burt Lancaster played it instead because six weeks after the play opened, Hingle had a nearly fatal accident. In 1959 while playing J.B. on Broadway, he was offered the title role for the 1960 film Elmer Gantry but lost it to Burt Lancaster because Hingle had a nearly fatal accident. In 1953, Hingle got his first break on Broadway in End As a Man, Calder Willingham's play depicting the dehumanisation of young men at a southern military school. He entered the Navy and served as an enlisted man on a destroyer in the Pacific. Martin Patterson Hingle, actor, born 19 July 1924; died 3 January 2009, US character actor with a distinguished career on stage and screen, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Pat Hingle (r) in The Ugly American with Marlon Brando Photograph: The Ronald Grant Archive. Martin Patterson "Pat" Hingle (July 19, 1924 January 3, 2009)[1] was an American actor. After the war, he returned to Texas, graduating in 1949 with a degree in radio broadcasting. He and his second wife had two children. In 1952, he became a member of the Actors Studio. York and began to get jobs on the stage and on TV. began to travel (with her son in tow) in search of more lucrative work; In 1980, he appeared in the short-lived police series Stonewith Dennis Weaver. He was caught in his West End Avenue apartment building in an elevator that had stalled between the second and third floors. After And looking like I do has allowed me to make a good living in all kinds of media. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. I know how deflating it is. The couple moved to New York in search of acting jobs. Stage: Appeard in "1776" on Broadway. However, in 1971, he was forced to temporarily leave the show for just a handful of episodes because he had to undergo heart surgery after suffering a heart attack. Hingle attended high school in Texas and in &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. 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He broke his left leg in three places and lost the little finger on his left hand. Anyone can read what you share. 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. Later in his career, he was known for playing judges, police officers and other authority figures. Hingle said with no apparent regrets. [2] He attended Weslaco High School, where he played tuba in the band. towards the theater department so I joined the campus Curtain Club. He also lost his little finger on his left hand. He earned a Tony Award nomination for his performance in Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1957). The apex of his stage career was "J.B." by poet Archibald Macleish, with Hingle in the title role as a 20th-century Job. ''. 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.