James Whitmore, Jr.

(Boss Mangan, Heartbreak House) James was born October 24th, 1948, in New York City. James is the eldest of three sons born to James and Nancy Whitmore. James was raised in Southern California, but returned to New York City to pursue acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He graduated from the AADA in 1968 and soon returned to Los Angeles to become a founding member of the L.A. Actors Theatre in 1974. In the time between the American Academy and the L.A. Actors Theatre, James traveled a great deal around the world. In 1969, he found himself on the tiny Caribbean island of Trinidad, where he met his wife, Salesha. James’s work as an actor included plays such as: The Hairy Ape, On the Money, Cocka-Doodle Dandy, The Kitchen, and Sleuth. His film and television credits include: The Boys of Company C, The Long Riders, Don’t Cry, It’s Only Thunder, Purple Hearts, The Rockford Files, Baa Baa Blacksheep, Hunter, 21 Jump Street, Quantum Leap, and many others. His directing career began in 1984 with the television show Hunter. Since then James has directed over 180 television shows and movies of the week. James and his wife Salesha have been married for 34 years and are the proud parents of four children: Handel, Shanewaz, Jacob and Aliah. James is also a grandparent blessed with five grandchildren: Nicholas, Noah, Nathaniel, Salesha, and Mene. Mr. Whitmore produced and played the dual roles of Judge Littlefield and Caiphus the Elder in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at the Whitmore-Lindley Theatre Center in LA. It was directed by his daughter Aliah Whitmore, and it enjoyed a six-week, critically acclaimed, sold-out run. Mr. Whitmore and his father worked together on Sleuth in 1981, here at the Peterborough Players in Inherit the Wind in 2005, the 2006 hit Tuesdays with Morrie, and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Mr. Whitmore recently made a pilot for a new CBS series called NCIS Los Angeles that is coming out this fall.