John Hillerman - # 170

John Hillerman obituary - 1932 - 2017: Magnum, P.I.'s Higgins

He was number 170 on the list.

John Hillerman became hugely popular when he played Higgins, the fussy Englishman opposite Tom Selleck’s private eye in the 1980s television series Magnum PI.

John Hillerman's Higgins was so successful that the character went on to appear in Murder, She Wrote

Higgins had become the caretaker of an estate in Hawaii, Robin’s Nest, owned by an absent writer who was sometimes voiced by Orson Welles.

Magnum, for reasons that were never quite explained, lived in the guest house and was allowed to use the owner’s Ferrari Testarossa and occasionally other luxury facilities, such as the swimming pool.

Hillerman was so perfect in the role that it came as a shock to many that he actually hailed from Texas and had listened to tapes of Laurence Olivier reciting Hamlet to perfect Higgins’ languid drawl.

“It wasn’t difficult for me,” he later said.

“I’d played a great deal of Noel Coward.”

In my humble opinion, Higgins is one of the best parts in all television

John Benedict Hillerman was the son of a petrol station owner of French and German origin and was born in Denison, Texas.

He studied at St Xavier’s Academy and then at the University of Texas where he majored in journalism.

He then joined the US Air Force, serving for four years and rising to sergeant but found his real calling when he started to appear in amateur dramatics and eventually made his Broadway debut in a 1959 revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Great God Brown.

His screen debut came in 1970 in an uncredited role in the film They Call Me Mister Tibbs! His friendship with director Peter Bogdanovich, a fellow spear-carrier in a production of Othello, led to Hillerman being cast in small parts in four of Bogdanovich’s films including The Last Picture Show.

Filmography

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"