Actors - James MacArthur

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	Actors - James MacArthur

James Gordon MacArthur was born December 8, 1937 in Los Angeles, California. For eleven years, James MacArthur played the role of Dan (Danno) Williams, reliable second-in-command to Steve McGarrett (played by Jack Lord), head of the fictional Hawaiian State Police Squad, Hawaii Five-O. The role made his name a household word and won him fans all over the world.

For many people, the name James MacArthur immediately invokes a jumble of images: a plane streaking across the sky; the swinging hips of a young girl dancing a hula; the flashing light of a police car, speeding through the night; the Aloha Tower; Punchbowl Cemetery, and, of course, Jack Lord posed majestically on a hotel balcony. They begin to hum the Hawaii Five-0 theme, which they had long thought forgotten but which had merely been lying dormant amongst old memories, and once again, they can hear Jack Lord snap, "Book 'em Danno."

So great was the popularity of the series, and of MacArthur's character, that it is easy to overlook the fact that he had a flourishing career long before the advent of Hawaii Five-0, and remained active in movies and TV and on the stage long after its demise.

He was adopted as an infant by playwright Charles MacArthur and his wife, actress Helen Hayes, he grew up in Nyack, New York, along with the MacArthurs' biological daughter, Mary, also an actress. He was educated at Allen-Stevenson School in New York, and later at Solebury School in New Hope, Pennsylvania, where he starred in basketball, football and baseball. In his final year at Solebury he played guard on the football team, captained the basketball team, was elected president of his class as well as of the Student Government and the Drama Club, rewrote the school's constitution, edited the school paper, The Scribe, and played Scrooge in a local presentation of A Christmas Carol
.

While at Solebury, Jim started dating a fellow student, Joyce Bulifant. They were married in November, 1958 and divorced nine years later.

Jim was growing up around the greatest literary and theatrical talent of the time. Lillian Gish was his Godmother and his parents' guests included such personalities as Ben Hecht, Harpo Marx, Robert Benchley, Beatrice Lillie, John Barrymore and John Steinbeck. This environment would present him with opportunities and challenges not experienced by other young people.

His first radio role was on Theatre Guild of the Air, in 1948. The Theatre Guild of the Air> was the premiere radio program of its day, producing one-hour plays that were performed in front of a live audience of 800. Helen Hayes accepted a role in one of the plays, which also had a small part for a child. Her son was asked if he would like to do it, and agreed.

He made his stage debut at Olney, Maryland, in 1949, with a two-week stint in The Corn is Green. His sister, Mary, was in the play and telephoned their mother to request that James go to Olney to be in it with her. The following summer, he repeated the role at Dennis, Massachusetts, and his theatrical career was underway. In 1954, he played John Day in Life With Father with Howard Lindsay and Dorothy Stickney. However, young James did not get a fast track into important Broadway productions just for being Helen Hayes' son. Instead, he received his training in summer stock.

He also worked as a set painter, lighting director and chief of the parking lot. During a Helen Hayes festival at the Falmouth Playhouse on Cape Cod, he had a few walk-on parts. He also helped the theatre electrician and, in fact, grew so interested that he was allowed to stay on after Miss Hayes' plays had ended. As a result, he lighted the show for Barbara Bel Geddes in The Little Hut and for Gloria Vanderbilt in The Swan. When he visited Paris with his mother as a member of The Skin of Our Teeth Company, he was in charge of making thunder backstage with a four-by-eight sheet of metal.

In 1955, at the age of 18, he was chosen to play Hal Ditmar in the TV play Deal a Blow. The play was directed by John Frankenheimer and starred MacDonald Carey, Phyllis Thaxter and Edward Arnold. In his scenes with the veterans, James showed that he was more than capable of matching experience with ability, and his "sensitive and intelligent" portrayal of the misunderstood teenager, teetering on the brink of delinquency, was lauded by critics and viewers alike.

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Actors - James MacArthur

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