Happy 85th Birthday Stuart Whitman

Stuart Maxwell Whitman was born on February 1, 1928, in San Francisco, California. He is the older brother of actor Kipp Whitman [1946- ] Stuart grew up in Los Angeles and upon graduating from high school he spent a few years in the Army Corps of Engineers where he was a light-heavyweight boxer. Afterward, he attended L.A. City College and studied drama while working as a bulldozer operator. He then toured the U.S. in a stage company of "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" and then began to get small roles in television and such films.as “When Worlds Collide” (1951) and “All I Desire” (1953). In 1952, Whitman married his first wife Pat, and the couple began a family while he tried to build an acting career. Although initially put under contract by Universal in 1952, he wasn't cast in much more than supporting parts until signing with 20th Century Fox in early 1958, when Whitman's film career took off. His first starring role came in the 1959 film “Hound-Dog Man” (1959). Whitman remained under contract with 20th Century Fox through the mid-1960s and earned an Academy Award nomination for his leading role of a child molester in “The Mark” (1961).  Afterward, he free lanced and even formed his own production company, the Stuart Whitman Corporation in 1967, where he produced his 1967-1968 CBS TV western ‘Cimarron Strip’. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Whitman found quite a bit of film work in Europe in such films as his only Euro-western “Captain Apache” with Lee Van Cleef and also “The Invincible Six” (both 1970), followed later with “Call Him Mr. Shatter” (1974). Whitman is another in a long list of American actors who claims he was offered the role of The Man With No Name by Sergio Leone. A shrewd investor, he amassed a substantial fortune while continuing his career even after its peak in the mid-1960s. His sons Tony [1953- ], Michael [1954 - ] and Scott [1958- ] have followed their famous father and work in various fields of the film industry. Retired now Whitman lives in Santa Barabara, California andtToday we celebrate Stuart Whitman’s 85^th birthday.