John Hillerman, Higgins on "Magnum, P.I.," Dies at 84

[Ubiquitous]

The Texan played the stuffy (but lovable) character on the Tom Selleck
starrer, winning an Emmy in 1987, and appeared in 'Chinatown' and
'Blazing Saddles.'

John Hillerman, the actor who made a career out of playing snooty
types, including Tom Selleck's fastidious estate caretaker Jonathan
Quayle Higgins III on Magnum, P.I., died Thursday. He was 84.

Hillerman, who received four Emmy nominations in consecutive years for
portraying Higgins and won in 1987, died at his home in Houston, family
spokeswoman Lori De Waal told the Associated Press. She said the cause
of death had not been determined.

His Higgins character was a natural extension of a part he played on
the TV detective show Ellery Queen: Simon Brimmer, a radio personality
and affected gent who fancied himself a savvy sleuth. Ironically,
Hillerman, who often played condescending characters with more than a
touch of the Tory Brit — the Mayfair accent — was a Texan from a tiny
railroad town, the son of a gas station owner.

Hillerman also appeared as Higgins on episodes of Murder, She Wrote and
Simon & Simon.

He also was recognized for his character on the 1977-78 sitcom The
Betty White Show, in which he played the star's director and former
spouse; as Sandy Duncan's father on Valerie's Family: The Hogans; and
as Bonnie Franklin's crusty boss Mr. Connors at a PR firm on One Day at
a Time.

Hillerman received his first onscreen credit in 1971 at the relatively
advanced age of 39 off a part in the 1971 Western Lawman. Also that
year, he had a small role as a teacher in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last
Picture Show.

Later, he appeared for the director in What's Up, Doc? (1972), Paper
Moon (1973) and At Long Last Love (1975).

Hillerman had roles in many top films, including such hits as Mel
Brooks' Blazing Saddles (1974), where he played a chap named Howard
Johnson, and Roman Polanski's noir classic Chinatown (1974), as Russ
Yelburton, deputy chief of the water department.

Hillerman also performed in High Plains Drifter (1973), Lucky Lady
(1975), Audrey Rose (1977) and another Brooks' film, History of the
World: Part I (1981) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996).

John Benedict Hillerman was born Dec. 20, 1932, in Denison, Texas. He
attended the University of Texas at Austin for three years before
serving four years in the Air Force. During his tour of duty, he worked
with theatrical groups. Upon his discharge, he moved to New York City
to study at the American Theatre Wing.

He landed his first professional theatrical role in Middleton, Ohio,
and went on to appear in productions at The Cincinnati Playhouse; it
was there that he honed his British accent and natty style.

--
Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.

[Michael OConnor]

Howard Johnson is dead! And yet another member of the Blazing Saddles cast is gone. Mel Brooks might wind up outliving EVERYBODY in the cast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NaQxUEfxt0

[That Derek]

Here's a YouTube link to a 1986 TV ad where Mr. Hillerman is hawking Mauna Loa macadamia nuts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Q6c0BcZGc

[That Derek]

>> And yet another member of the Blazing Saddles cast is gone.

Let's see:

Cleavon Little; Gene Wilder; Madeleine Kahn; Alex Karras; Harvey Korman; David Huddleston; John Hillerman; Slim Pickins; Dom DeLuise; George Furth; Count Basie ... plus Richard Pryor (co-screenwriter consider to play "Sheriff Bart") and Frankie Laine (theme song singer).

Maybe you're on to something.

[Michael OConnor]

Checking the cast, except for Brooks, the only other cast member who had any significant screen time who is still alive is Burton Gilliam, who played Lyle, Slim Pickens sidekick. There were some uncredited celebrity cameos who are still alive, such as Sally Kirkland, who I didn't even realize was in it. She was the cashier, presumably the cashier at the studio cafeteria.

Among other uncredited cameos in Blazing Saddles, I never realized Richard Farnsworth played a Sheriff. One more thing I never knew is that Robert Ridgely played Boris, the hangman; I always thought that was Dom DeLuise just from the voice and his face is mostly hidden. I guess you learn something new every day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdL9wQdWZ9g

[Bermuda999]

The owner of Howard Johnson's Ice Cream Parlor, 1 Flavor, in the town of Rock Ridge. "Oh, blow it out your ass Howard"

There was something of a Magnum P.I. marathon beginning last weekend with Season 1 Episode 1 (on DirecTv -- may have been Encore)

[RH Draney]

Carol Arthur, the soft-spoken bespectacled Rock Ridge schoolmarm who
surprises everyone by suddenly bellowing out her petition statement at
the top of her lungs (presaging a gag later stolen outright by the
makers of the "Police Academy" series for Officer Hooks), is still
living at the age of 82...she was married to Dom DeLuise....r