James MacArthur

James Gordon MacArthur (December 8, 1937 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor and recording artist.

He had a long career in both movies and television, and his early work was predominantly in supporting roles in films. Later he had a starring role as Danny "Danno" Williams in the long-running television series Hawaii Five-O.

Television In 1955, at the age of 18, MacArthur played Hal Ditmar in the television play '"Deal a Blow", an episode of the series Climax! directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Macdonald Carey, Phyllis Thaxter and Edward Arnold. The critical response was excellent, with The New York Times saying that he "performed splendidly."

The following year, Frankenheimer directed the film version of the play, which was renamed The Young Stranger (1957), with MacArthur again in the starring role. His performance was again critically acclaimed, earning him a nomination for Most Promising Newcomer at the 1958 BAFTA awards.

In late 1956, it was announced that MacArthur would make Underdog, based on a novel by W. R. Burnett, along with his mother and Susan Strasberg, but the project never materialized.

MacArthur returned to television to appear in World in White (1957) and episodes of General Electric Theater, Studio One in Hollywood and Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse.

Disney MacArthur was selected by Walt Disney to star in The Light in the Forest (1958), playing a white man raised by Indians. In April 1957, he signed a three-picture deal with Disney. For Light in the Forest he was paid $2,500 per week, which increased to $3,000 per week for the second film and $3,500 for the third. However, MacArthur was only available to work during his summer vacation from Harvard, where he was studying history.

Disney executives liked his performance and cast him in Third Man on the Mountain (1959), playing a young man who climbs the Matterhorn. His mother had a cameo role.

Deciding to make acting his full-time career, he left Harvard in his second year to appear in two more Disney movies, Kidnapped (1960) and Swiss Family Robinson (1960). He was named a possibility for Bon Voyage (1962) but did not appear in the film.

MacArthur made his Broadway debut in 1960 playing opposite Jane Fonda in Invitation to a March, for which he received a Theatre World Award. Although he never returned to Broadway, he remained active in theater throughout his career, appearing in such productions as Under the Yum Yum Tree, The Moon Is Blue, John Loves Mary (with his wife Joyce Bulifant), Barefoot in the Park and Murder at the Howard Johnson's.

He also released several records in the early 1960s, scoring two minor hits with "(The Story of) The In-Between Years" and "The Ten Commandments of Love", which peaked at number 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963.

MacArthur delivered a chilling performance as baby-faced opium dealer Johnny Lubin in The Untouchables episode "Death For Sale". He also appeared in episodes of the television shows Bus Stop and Wagon Train. He returned to feature films as one of several young actors in The Interns (1962), Columbia's popular medical drama.

He appeared in episodes of The Dick Powell Theatre, Sam Benedict and Arrest and Trial, then made Spencer's Mountain (1963) at Warner Bros. with Henry Fonda and Cry of Battle (1963) in the Philippines.

He guest-starred on the television shows Burke's Law, The Eleventh Hour, The Great Adventure, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour before appearing in the feature films The Truth About Spring and The Bedford Incident, both in 1965.

In Battle of the Bulge (1965), MacArthur again played the role of a young and inexperienced officer. He appeared in Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966) and guest-starred on Branded, Combat!, Gunsmoke, Hondo, Insight, Death Valley Days, Bonanza, The Virginian, Twelve O'Clock High and Tarzan.

MacArthur returned to Disney to appear in Willie and the Yank (1967) for television, released theatrically as Mosby's Marauders. He also had a role in The Love-Ins (1967) for Sam Katzman and a brief but memorable appearance in the Clint Eastwood film Hang 'Em High (1968) as a preacher.

Hawaii Five-O Hang 'Em High was written by Leonard Freeman, who was producing a new police procedural, Hawaii Five-O. Tim O'Kelly was originally cast as Jack Lord's assistant, but test audiences felt that he was too young, so MacArthur was offered the role.

Appearing in the show made MacArthur wealthy, and he invested much of his earnings in Hawaiian real estate.

William Smith, who replaced him on the show, claimed that MacArthur quit "because Jack Lord wouldn't let him have a dressing room. He had to change in the prop truck for eleven years."

After Hawaii Five-O After leaving Hawaii Five-O, McArthur guest-starred on television shows such as Time Express, Murder, She Wrote, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Walking Tall, The Littlest Hobo,Vega$ and Superboy. He also appeared in the miniseries Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story (1980) and The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1983). He returned to the stage, appearing in A Bedfull of Foreigners in Chicago in 1984 and in Michigan in 1985. He followed this with The Hasty Heart before taking a year out of show business.

In 1987, he again took to the stage in The Foreigner, and then played Mortimer in the national tour of Arsenic and Old Lace. In 1989, he followed another stint in The Foreigner with Love Letters and in 1990–1991, A Bedfull of Foreigners in Las Vegas.

Semi-retirement From 1959 to 1960, MacArthur partnered with actors James Franciscus and Alan Ladd, Jr. in the ownership of a Beverly Hills telephone-answering service. In June 1972, he directed the Honolulu Community Theatre in a production of his father's play The Front Page.

He appeared at conventions, collectors' shows and celebrity sporting events. A keen golfer, he won the 2002 Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament.

MacArthur also appeared in television and radio specials and on interview programs such as Entertainment Tonight, Christopher's Closeup and the BBC Radio 5 Live obituary program Brief Lives, in which he paid tribute to his Hawaii Five-O castmate Kam Fong. In 1997, MacArthur returned without Jack Lord (who was in declining health) to reprise his character, who had become Hawaii's governor, in the 1997 unaired reboot pilot of Hawaii Five-O.

In April 2003, he traveled to Honolulu's historic Hawaii Theatre for a cameo role in Joe Moore's play Dirty Laundry. Negotiations were under way in summer 2010 for MacArthur to make a cameo appearance in the new CBS primetime remake of Hawaii Five-0 at the time of his death, a role that eventually was offered to Al Harrington. Before the start of the November 1, 2010, episode, MacArthur's death was mentioned in a short tribute.

In 2001, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to MacArthur.

Personal life and death From 1958 to 1968, he was married to actress Joyce Bulifant. From 1970 to 1975, he was married to actress Melody Patterson. At the time of his death, MacArthur was married to former LPGA golfer Helen Beth Duntz. MacArthur had two daughters and two sons.

MacArthur died on October 28, 2010, at the age of 72 of unspecified causes in Jacksonville, Florida.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1953 Take the High Ground! 1955 Climax! Hal Ditmar Deal a Blow 1957 Self April 30, 1957 1957 Harold James "Hal" Ditmar 1958 General Electric Theater Johnny Dundeen The Young and the Scared 1958 Studio One Jim Gibson Ticket to Tahiti 1958 Studio One Ben Adams Tongues of Angels 1958 Johnny Butler / True Son 1959 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Jamsie Corcoran The Innocent Assassin 1959 Third Man on the Mountain Rudi Matt 1959 Wagon Train Waiter The Jenny Tannen Story, Uncredited 1960 Kidnapped David Balfour 1960 Night of the Auk Lt. Mac Hartman 1960 Swiss Family Robinson Fritz Robinson 1960 The Play of the Week Lieutenant Max Night of the Auk 1963 Spencer's Mountain Clayboy Spencer 1961 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Johnny Butler / True Son Archive footageLight in the Forest: True Son's Revenge 1961 The Play of the Week Lt. Max Hartman Night of the Auk 1961 Johnny Lubin Death for Sale 1961 Bus Stop Thomas Quincy Hagan And the Pursuit of Evil 1962 Insight Jim Brown The Sophomore 1962 Wagon Train Dick Pederson The Dick Pederson Story 1962 Dr. Lew Worship 1962 Jack Doffer The Court Martial of Captain Wycliff 1963 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Rudi Matt Archive footageBanner in the Sky: To Conquer the Mountain 1963 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Rudi Matt Archive footageBanner in the Sky: The Killer Mountain 1963 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color David Balfour Archive footageKidnapped: Part 1 1963 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color David Balfour Archive footageKidnapped: Part 2 1963 Sam Benedict Bert Stover Some Fires Die Slowly 1963 Spencer's Mountain Clayboy Spencer 1963 Arrest and Trial Deke Palmer A Shield is for Hiding Behind 1963 Cry of Battle David McVey 1963 Burke's Law (1963 TV series) Larry Forsythe Who Killed the Kind Doctor? 1963 Mason Walker La Belle Indifference 1963 Lieutenant Alexander The Hunley 1964 Rodger Young Rodger Young 1964 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Dave Snowden Behind the Locked Door 1965 William Ashton 1965 Ensign Ralston 1965 Johnny Bradford Jennifer 1965 Battle of the Bulge Lieutenant Weaver 1966 Ride Beyond Vengeance The Census Taker 1966 Branded Lt. Laurence A Destiny Which Made Us Brothers 1966 12 O'Clock High Lt. Wilson The Outsider 1966 Gunsmoke David McGovern Harvest 1967 Dateline: Hollywood Self June 19, 1967 1967 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Cpl. Henry Jenkins Willie and the Yank: The DeserterWillie and the Yank: The Mosby Raiders 1967 Combat! Jack Cole Encounter 1967 Larry Osborne 1967 Mosby's Marauders Cpl. Henry Jenkins 1967 Insight Billy Thorp Some Talk About Pool Rooms and Gin Mills 1967 Hondo Judd Barton Hondo and the Mad Dog 1967 Tarzan Dr. Richard Wilson The Pride of the Lioness 1967 Bonanza Jason 'Jase' Fredericks Check Rein 1967 Death Valley Days Kit Carson Spring Rendezvous 1968 Death Valley Days Kit Carson The Indian Girl 1968 Hang 'Em High The Preacher 1968 Deek Stacey 1968 Premiere Russ Faine Lassiter 1968–1979 Hawaii Five-O Det. Danny Williams 259 episodes 1971 Self June 28, 1971July 4, 1971 1971 Hollywood Squares Self April 12, 1971 1972 Hollywood Squares Self March 6, 1972 1973 Hollywood Squares Self January 1, 1973 1977 Battle of the Network Stars III Self 1978 Battle of the Network Stars IV Self 1978 Fantasy Island Fantasy Island The Funny Girl/Butch and Sundance 1979 Time Express Dr. Mark Toland Garbage Man/Doctor's Wife 1979 Chet Hanson The Spider Serenade/The Wife Next Door/The Harder They Fall 1980 34th Annual Tony Awards Self 1980 Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story Walt Stomer 1980 Scott Burgess The Caller/The Marriage of Convenience/No Girls for Doc/Witness for the Prosecution 1981 Fantasy Island Bob Graham The Heroine/The Warrior 1981 Vega$ Jerry Lang Heist 1981 Walking Tall Father Adair The Fire Within 1981 Jim Haley Trail of No Return 1983 Self 1983 Cal Miller 1983 Paul Krakauer I Don't Play Anymore/Gopher's Roommate/Crazy for You 1984 Murder, She Wrote Alan Gephardt Hooray for Homicide 1985 Marc Silver Vicki's Gentleman Caller/Partners to the End/The Perfect Arrangement 1989 Hogan Birdwoman of the Swamps 1991 JFK uncredited David McVey Archive footage Cry of Battle 1991 American Masters Self Helen Hayes: First Lady of the American Theatre 1994 Self 1997 Hawaii Five-O (1997 TV pilot) Governor Danny Williams Unsold pilot episode 1997 Light Lunch Self 70 Super Cops 1998 Storm Chasers: Revenge of the Twister Frank Del Rio (final film role) 2002 Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making Narrator Special thanks 2002 Inside TVLand: 40 Greatest Theme Songs Self 2002 Inside TVLand: Cops on Camera Self 2005 Self 2006 Self 2007 Entertainment and TVLand Present: The 50 Greatest TV Icons Self 2008 Self Grateful thanks