Pat Hingle

Pat Hingle
Judge Adam Fenton (Hingle) in Hang 'Em High (1968).
Born	July 19, 1924(1924-07-19) Miami, Florida, United States
Died	January 3, 2009 (aged 84) Carolina Beach, North Carolina, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1954–2009
Spouse(s)	Alyce Faye Dorsey (1947-?) Julie Wright (1979-2009)

Martin Patterson "Pat" Hingle (July 19, 1924 – January 3, 2009) was an American actor.

Biography

Early life

Hingle was born Martin Patterson Hingle in Miami, Florida, the son of Marvin Louise (née Patterson), a schoolteacher and musician, and Clarence Martin Hingle, a building contractor.^[1] Hingle enlisted in the U.S. Navy in December 1941, dropping out of the University of Texas. He served on the destroyer USS Marshall during World War II. He returned to the University of Texas after the war and earned a degree in radio broadcasting.

Near fatal 1960 accident

In 1960, he had been offered the title role in Elmer Gantry, but could not do it due to a near fatal accident; caught in an elevator in his West End Avenue apartment building that had stalled between the second and third floors, he crawled out, trying to reach the second floor corridor, lost his balance and fell 54 feet down the shaft, fracturing his skull, wrist, hip and most of the ribs on his left side, breaking his left leg in three places and losing the little finger on his left hand. He lay near death for two weeks and his recovery took more than a year.

Acting career

Traditional roles

Hingle was traditionally known for playing judges, police officers, and other authority figures. One of his notable roles was the father of the character played by Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass (1961). While he was probably best known in recent times for playing Commissioner Gordon^[2] in the 1989 film Batman and its three sequels, Hingle had a long list of television and movie credits to his name, going back to 1948. Among them are Hang 'Em High (1968), Sudden Impact (1983), Road To Redemption (2001), When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? (1979), Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive (1986), The Grifters (1990), Citizen Cohn (1992), The Land Before Time (1988), Wings (1996), and Shaft (2000).

Along with Michael Gough, who played Alfred Pennyworth, he was one of only two actors to appear in the four Batman films from 1989-1997. In Hingle's appearance as Commissioner Gordon in Batman & Robin, he worked with Uma Thurman (who portrayed Poison Ivy), whose first husband, Gary Oldman, succeeded him in the role in Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008). Hingle also worked with Christian Bale in Shaft, who would go on to portray Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins and Dark Knight.

Other roles

Hingle originated the role of Gooper in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He also starred as Victor Franz in the premiere production of The Price by Arthur Miller. In the 1997 revival of the musical 1776, Hingle played Benjamin Franklin, with Brent Spiner as John Adams. In 2002, he was a regular cast member of ABC's series The Court. He also played Horace in 1995's The Quick and the Dead. He also had a role on an episode of the 60's TV show "The Fugitive". He also played the head cop in San Palo in the fourth Dirty Harry installment, Sudden Impact.

In 2006, he appeared in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, as the original owner of Dennit Racing.

Marriages

Married Alyce Faye Dorsey, June 3, 1947 (divorced);

children: (first marriage) Jody, Billy, Molly;

Married Julia Wright, October 25, 1979 - January 3, 2009;

children:(second marriage) two children^[3]

Death

Hingle died at his home in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, of cancer on January 3, 2009, having been diagnosed with myelodysplasia in November 2006. He was cremated. His ashes were scattered into the Atlantic Ocean.^[4][5]

References

External links

• Pat Hingle at Find a Grave
• Pat Hingle at the Internet Movie Database
• AP Obituary in The Charlotte Observer
• Pat Hingle Obit in The Star News
• Pat Hingle at the CinéArtistes (French)