Sgt John Benedict Hillerman

Another one of our beloved TV stars from the past has left us, as Magnum P.I. star John Hillerman has died at the age of 84. No cause of death has been released, but he passed away at his home in Houston, TX on Nov. 9 his family's spokesperson told the Associated Press. Fans of the Hawaiian set show will always remember him as Higgins, the uptight caretaker of Robin's Nest, where Tom Selleck's private investigator character Thomas Magnum lived in the estate's guest house. Hillerman was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series at the Emmy Awards four times for his role on the show, finally winning in 1987. The iconic series aired on CBS from 1980 through 1988, and made an international sex symbol out of Selleck.

Hillerman made a career of playing uptight, pompous types and he was absolute perfection as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III. He portrayed the fastidious, rule loving caretaker, and Magnum was the perfect foil with his laid-back ways and penchant for breaking the rules. His character was so popular that the network brought it to other CBS series including Murder She Wrote and Simon & Simon. Prior to Magnum, Hillerman appeared as Bonnie's boss on the '70s sitcom One Day at a Time and the director and ex-husband on The Betty White Show.

Hillerman was born in Denison, TX, and after a four-year-sting in the Air Force moved to New York to study acting at the American Theatre Wing. He later honed the perfect snooty upper crust accent that he brought to many roles while doing stage work in Ohio at the Cincinnati Playhouse. He ended up onscreen for the first time at the age of 39, pretty late in many actor's careers, landing small parts in the 1971 Western flick Lawman. as well as a bit part in director Peter Bogdanovich's iconic film The Last Picture Show. He had roles in such classic films as Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles in 1974 and the Jack Nicholson thriller Chinatown that same year. But it was Magnum P.I. that ended up making Hillerman a household name.

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http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0384916/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

In his mid-30s, Hillerman said "hasta luego" to his Texan origins to further his fervent theatrical ambitions; he headed Eastward, ultimately establishing himself as the predominant male thespian affiliated with Washington D.C..'s prestigious "O" Street Theater, where he interpreted numerous lead roles, season after season, in the spectacular repertoire of that popular community theater.

Then, as the 1960's were coming to a close, Hillerman's brilliant stage career came to an abrupt unexpected end. What happened? Well, while present in the nation's Capitol, Peter Bogdanovich decided to go see a stage show being performed at the famed "O" Street Theater. He was captivated by Hillerman's performance. After the final curtain call, Bogdanovich went backstage to congratulate Hillerman on his performance skills, as well as to offer him a role in Bogdanovich's soon-to-be-produced film The Last Picture Show (1971) to be shot on location in Texas. Thus, Hillerman was going to be heading back home to Texas, leaving behind stage acting to start a new celebrity career performing on film and television.

Subsequent to Hillerman's departure, the "O" Street Theater abandoned its initial historic site on "O" Street to create a new performance venue across town, while still retaining its original well-known "O" Street name. Subsequent to that move, and capitalizing on the growing celebrity of its former top thespian, the "O" Street Theater began to add to its own schedule of locally-produced shows, occasional bookings of nationally-known touring performers, such as Anthony Zerbe and Roscoe Lee Browne performing their spirited two-man show "Behind the Broken Words", a collage of 20th century poetry and drama, drawn from works by Auden, Yeats, Richard Wright, Dylan Thomas, E. E. Cummings, Heany, Jeffers, Ferlinghetti, Jean Giraudoux, De Musset, Rostand and Derek Walcott. A stage show that was eventually transcribed onto film by David Stern. Behind the Broken Words (2003) - IMDb Mini Biography By: John Archer Lundgren

Trivia (11) Attended The University of Texas at Austin. Reports of the death of Mr. Hillerman were confused with the death of another John Hillerman. This Mr. Hillerman is alive and well. [1996] Has appeared as the character "Jonathan Higgins" in three separate television shows: Magnum, P.I. (1980), Simon & Simon (1981) and Murder, She Wrote (1984). He is a native Texan, thus his British accent in Magnum, P.I. (1980) is assumed. He developed his British accent for Magnum, P.I. (1980) by watching and listening to the performances of Laurence Olivier. Once received a fan letter from a British Lord that read, "You are a credit to the Empire.". While serving in the U.S. Air Force at Carswell AFB, TX, tried out for a local play and discovered he loved acting. Parents are Christopher Benedict and Lenora JoAnn (Medinger) Hillerman. Has two sisters. First cousin once removed of Tony Hillerman. Retired in Texas. [2000] Personal Quotes (1) [on Magnum, P.I. (1980) co-star Tom Selleck] The biggest boy scout in America. -------------------------------