Pat Hingle

Pat Hingle
Hingle as Judge Adam Fenton in Hang 'Em High (1968).
Born	Martin Patterson Hingle (1924-07-19)July 19, 1924 Miami, Florida, United States
Died	January 3, 2009(2009-01-03) (aged 84) Carolina Beach, North Carolina, United States
Cause of death	Myelodysplastic syndrome
Resting place	Cremated, Ashes scattered into the Atlantic Ocean
Residence	Carolina Beach, North Carolina
Nationality	American
Education	Saluda Elementary School
Alma mater	Actors Studio
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1954–2009
Notable work(s)	Batman, Hang 'Em High, Splendor in the Grass, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman and Robin, Shaft
Home town	Houston, Texas
Height	5' 10" (1.78 m)
Spouse	Alyce Faye Dorsey (1947-1972) (divorced), Julie Wright (1979-2009) (his death)
Children	5
Parents	Marvin Louise (nèe Patterson) Hingle, Clarence Martin Hingle

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

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.

Acting career

Traditional roles

Hingle was traditionally known for playing judges, police officers, and other authority figures. He was a guest star on the early NBC legal drama Justice, based on case histories of the Legal Aid Society of New York.^[2]

Another notable role was as the father of the character played by Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass (1961). He is probably best known in recent times for playing Commissioner Gordon^[3] 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), Brewster's Millions (1985), Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive (1986), The Grifters (1990), Citizen Cohn (1992), The Land Before Time (1988), Wings (1996), and Shaft (2000). Hingle played Dr. Chapman in the TV series Gunsmoke (1971), and Col. Tucker in the movie Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992). In 1963, Hingle guest-starred in an episode of The Twilight Zone called "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" as the title character. In 1980, he appeared in the short lived police series Stone with Dennis Weaver.

Batman film series

Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon.

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) The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Hingle portraying yet another judge in Shaft also worked with Christian Bale, who would go on to portray Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises.

Personal life

Hingle married Alyce Faye Dorsey, on June 3, 1947 and had children Jody, Billy, Molly. The couple later divorced and Hingle married Julia Wright (October 25, 1979 - January 3, 2009) with whom he had two children^[4]

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. He was caught in his West End Avenue apartment building in an elevator that had stalled between the second and third floors. He crawled out and sought to reach the second floor corridor but lost his balance and fell fifty-four feet down the shaft. He fractured his skull, wrist, hip, and most of the ribs on his left side. He broke his left leg in three places and lost the little finger on his left hand. He lay near death for two weeks, and his recovery required more than a year.

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. His ashes were scattered into the Atlantic Ocean.^[5]

Other roles

• (1955) Originated the role of Gooper in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
• (1955) Guest starred in "The Allentown Incident" of the CBS anthology series Appointment with Adventure
• (1958) Played the title role in the award winning broadway play J.B. by Archibald MacLeish
• (1962) Played Mitchell A. Grandin on the TV show The Untouchables (1959 TV series) on the episode 'The Case Against Eliot Ness' - Season 3, episode #83
• (1963) Had a role on an episode of the TV show The Fugitive
• (1964) Played Will Carey, an antisocial man who dies in Daniel Boone (Season 1, episode 14)
• (1966) Played Fred Gibson, a Wild West promoter in The Andy Griffith Show
• (1967) Played an alien prophet in The Invaders (Season 2, episode 11)
• (1968) Starred as Victor Franz in the premiere production of The Price by Arthur Miller
• (1970) Played Grady Fring in Norwood
• (1977) Played Maynard Josephson, an old friend of Police Officer Shockley (Clint Eastwood) in The Gauntlet (film). He warns Shockley of the gauntlet, but is shot dead by shooters from a nearby building and Shockley is hit in the leg.
• (1979) Played Colonel Tom Parker in the film Elvis the Movie with Kurt Russell
• (1980) Appeared in an episode of M*A*S*H
• (1983) Played the head cop in San Palo in the fourth Dirty Harry installment, Sudden Impact
• (1985) Played Mr. Boyce in The Falcon and the Snowman
• (1995) Played Horace in The Quick and the Dead
• (1995) Played Boss Tom Pendergast in Truman with Gary Sinise
• (1997) Played Benjamin Franklin in a revival of the musical 1776
• (2002) Was a regular cast member of ABC's series The Court
• (2006) Appeared in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, as the original owner of Dennit Racing

Filmography

References

External links

• Pat Hingle at the Internet Movie Database
• Pat Hingle at the Internet Broadway Database
• AP Obituary in The Charlotte Observer
• Pat Hingle Obit in The Star News