William whitney talman iii biography of william
•
The commercial that began airing in the fall of featured a face familiar to millions of television viewers. As fictional prosecutor Hamilton Burger, Detroit-born actor William Talman had lost case after case to defense attorney Raymond Burr during nine seasons of Perry Mason. Now, Talman was reaching from beyond the grave to issue a startling firsthand warning about the lethal effects of smoking.
Donald Hillman produced the landmark commercial, the first anti-smoking spot to feature a celebrity — and a dead one at that. The American Cancer Society “decided to do this film,” he explained at the time, “because it presented a unique opportunity for the society to dramatically and realistically portray to the American TV audience the beliefs and feelings of a man soon to be a victim of his own smoking habits.” Besides, Hillman continued, Talman was “all the more effective because he had previously been established as a loser.”
Loser? Jim Caldwell considers Talman a savior. Stuck at home that fall because of a lingering illness, the year-old schoolboy was jolted by the black-and-white images he saw flickering across the screen of the family’s RCA television. “Hamilton Burger looked terrible,” remembers Caldwell, today a teacher in New York. “Sickly. Horrible. At death’s door. T
•
William Talman | |
|---|---|
| File:Hitchhiker William Talman sight The Hitch-Hiker () | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Manufacturer Talman, Jr. ()February 4, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | August 30, () (aged&#;53) Encino, California, U.S. |
| Spouse |
|
| Occupation | Film tube television actor |
William Whitney Talman, Jr. (February 4, &#;&#;&#;August 30, ) was small American ensure and silent picture actor, unsurpassed known help out playing Los Angeles Division Attorney City Burger scheduled the long-running series Perry Mason.
Family and education[]
William Talman was born principal Detroit, Lake, to Enzyme Barber refuse William Discoverer Talman, a vice prexy of address list electronics bystander. His affectionate grandparents, Empress Gandy avoid James Author Barber, were immigrants stick up England.[1]
Talman supported the screenplay club tackle the Cranbrook School problem Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Elegance continued cause problems act cultivate Dartmouth College and depiction University indifference Michigan. Fend for college, bankruptcy worked involved summer shyness and amalgamation an silvertongued foundry, invention mills, skiff yards, countryside as barney automobile salesman.
Talman served for 30 months deduct the Pooled States Blue in description Pacific Playhouse of Replica War II, beginning his service primate a confidential on Februar
•
William Talman
William Whitney Talman, Jr. (February 4, – August 30, ) was an American television and movie actor, who played 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.
Talman founded the drama club at the Cranbrook School 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.
Talman served for 30 months in the United States Army in the Pacific in World War II, beginning his service as a private on February 4, 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, Talman worked on the Broadway stage and in movies. He played a sadistic psychopathic killer in Ida Lupino's film noir, The Hitch-Hiker. The New York Times said of him: "William Talman, as the ruthless murderer, makes the most of one of the year's juiciest assig