William Talman

William Talman
William Talman in The Hitch-Hiker (1953).
Born	William Whitney Talman, Jr. February 4, 1915(1915-02-04) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	August 30, 1968 (aged 53) Encino, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film, television actor
Spouse(s)	Lynne Carter Barbara Read Margaret Flanagan

William Whitney Talman, Jr. (February 4, 1915 – August 30, 1968) was an American television and movie actor most notably remembered as the Los Angeles District Attorney Hamilton Burger in the long-running series Perry Mason.

Family and education

Talman was born in Detroit, Michigan to Ada Barber and William Whitney Talman, a vice president of an electronics company. His maternal grandparents, Catherine Gandy and James Wells Barber, were immigrants from England.^[1]

He founded the drama club at the Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He continued to act at Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan. After college he worked in summer stock and at an iron foundry, paper mills, boat yards, and as an automobile salesman.

He served for 30 months in the army in the Pacific in World War II, beginning his service as a private on February 4, 1942 at Camp Upton in Yaphank, (Long Island) New York. He was ultimately commissioned a major during the war.

Acting career

Before his iconic television role, he worked on the Broadway stage and in movies. He played a sadistic psychopathic killer in 1953's B movie film noir, The Hitch-Hiker ^[2]. The New York Times said of him: "William Talman, as the ruthless murderer, make the most of one of the year's juiciest assignments."^[3] But in the 1952 thriller "Beware, My Lovely," about a war widow who is terrorized by a madman in her home, a photograph of Talman is used for the picture of her late, heroic husband.

Aside from his role in Perry Mason, he also guest-starred in television series. He appeared in a first season episode of The Invaders, Quantity: Unknown. This would be his last on-screen acting role.^[4]

Originally Talman auditioned for the title role of Perry Mason and Raymond Burr for Hamilton Burger. However, Perry Mason creator and author Erle Stanley Gardner was present and demanded the actors switch parts. Burr was then given the title role and Talman the role of Burger. Talman as Burger would go on to lose all but three cases in the nine year series, including a record two separate murder trials in the final episode. He called his record “the longest losing streak in history”.

William Talman was fired from Perry Mason for a short period. Sheriff's deputies suspicious of marijuana use raided a party in a private home in Beverly Hills, at which Talman was a guest, on March 13, 1960. The deputies reported finding Talman and other defendants in the nude. Even though a morals charge was made against Talman (and vagrancy charges and lewd conduct against others at the party), municipal judge Adolph Alexander dismissed the charge against Talman on June 18. “I don’t approve of their conduct,” the judge ruled, “but there has been no violation of the law established.” Despite this, Talman was fired when a "morals" clause was invoked in his contract—producers were afraid this incident would damage the show's image. However, Raymond Burr and the rest of the cast demanded the CBS network rehire Talman, and there was a deluge of fan mail demanding his reinstatement. CBS ultimately did bring him back on the set in December, 1960. But the incident (and possibly his typecasting as the never-ending loser Hamilton Burger) somewhat damaged Talman's career—other than Perry Mason he worked very infrequently as an actor from then on.

Personal Information

Talman was married three times. His first wife was the actress Lynne Carter – their marriage lasted from just before Talman left for active service in 1942 to September 1952 and produced one daughter, Lynda. His second wife was the actress Barbara Read. They had one daughter, Barbie, and one son, William Whitney Talman III. The couple divorced on August 23, 1960. His third wife was Margaret Flanagan whom he married in 1963. Margaret had a son (Steve) and daughter (Debbie) from a previous marriage. William and Margaret had two children: a son, Timothy, and a daughter, Susan.

Anti-smoking advocacy and death

Talman is also known for being the first actor in Hollywood to film an anti-smoking commercial for the American Cancer Society. A lifelong heavy smoker, he was diagnosed with lung cancer, and knew he was dying when he filmed the commercial. The short film began with the words, "Before I die I want to do what I can to leave a world free of cancer for my six children ... ". Talman requested that the commercial not be aired until after his death.

He had made another such commercial, which opened with his voice-over and a picture of his home, followed by filmed shots of his wife and kids, then a still of himself "with a friend of mine you might recognize," Raymond Burr, from the Perry Mason TV series. He then said, "You know, I didn't mind losing those courtroom battles, but I'm in a battle now I don't want to lose at all. Because if I lose it it means losing my wife and those kids you just met. I've got lung cancer...If you don't smoke, don't start. If you do smoke, quit! Don't be a loser." This classic ad is available on the Internet.^[5]

Four weeks after filming the second ad, Talman succumbed to lung cancer on August 30, 1968 at the age of 53. He was interred in Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

References

• ”8 Freed in Morals Case”, New York Times, June 18, 1960, page 26.
• ”William Tallman of Perry Mason”, New York Times, August 31, 1968, page 23.

External links

• William Talman at the Internet Movie Database
• William Talman at Find a Grave