James MacArthur, 1937-2010

I posted the following on my other blog, but thought it worth repeating here.


I turned on the computer this morning here in Winnipeg and came across a news item reporting the death of actor James MacArthur. Years ago, during all those years when Hawaii 5-0 was being shot in and around Honolulu, I got to know Jimmy. His wife and mine were friends and we all hung out a bit together.

I had just started a small advertising agency and one of our clients was a very small bank. Just two branches. Nevertheless they had aspirations for expansion and we decided to produce a couple of 30-second television spots. I approached Jimmy to see if he would appear as the bank’s spokesman in the commercials. He agreed, as a personal favor to me, of course – he certainly didn’t need the money – and he showed up spot on time early one Saturday morning when the two branches were closed and we could do our production without disrupting things.

We shot one commercial at the downtown branch of the bank that morning, and moved on to the other branch that afternoon. Through it all, Jimmy MacArthur cheerfully endured all the re-takes and other delays for sound checks and lighting changes, apologized when he fluffed a line and chatted amiably with the crew during the catered lunch. He was, in a word, the consummate professional and a joy to be around.

We finally finished shooting at 3:30 that afternoon, and his wife came to pick him up. That’s when I learned that Jimmy had been skiing in Colorado the week before and, thanks to some bad weather throughout that whole area, had only arrived back in Honolulu at 5:00 that very morning. He had had just enough time to run home, shower and shave, and get to the bank for the filming of our two insignificant little commercials.

Ever since, whenever I read about the petulant, selfish, thoughtless behavior of some of these prima donnas in sports or theater or business, I think of James Gordon MacArthur … who shames them all.

Aloha, Jimmy.

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James MacArthur - A Class Act and a Good Guy

I was channel surfing last night and happened to comes across an old Disney film, Swiss Family Robinson. The cast included James MacArthur, who is probably best remembered for his role as Danny Williams, sidekick to Jack Lord in the CBS series, Hawaii 5-0. (“Book ‘em, Danno!”)

I knew Jim back in those days and seeing that clip brought to mind a story about him that’s worth sharing.

I was running an advertising agency in Honolulu – this incident occurred sometime in the mid-80s – and had asked Jim if he would appear in a couple of 30-second commercials for a client of ours, a small local bank. He certainly didn’t need the money, and we could only pay him a pittance but, the very good guy that he is, Jim agreed to do it … more as a personal favor to me than anything else, I’m sure.

The shoot was set for 8:00 on a Saturday morning when the bank was normally closed. Jim showed up on time and was his usual friendly, professional self throughout the day. We shot one commercial at the bank’s downtown branch, broke for lunch, then moved out to the Manoa area for the second spot at another branch. As I recall, we finished at about 3:00.

Jim and I were chatting as the crew was packing up, and that’s when I learned he had returned from ten days of skiing in Aspen, Colorado, just the night before.

In fact, as the story unfolded, it turned out that there had been a severe snowstorm and his original flight out of Aspen had been cancelled. So Jim rented a car, drove 200 miles to Denver, and caught a flight to LA where he changed planes for the five-hour flight to Honolulu. Naturally, there had been an additional delay at LAX and by the time he got home and to bed it was after 3:00 a.m. Yet there he was the next morning, right on time without a word of complaint, ready to do our little commercials, for which he was being paid pocket change.

As you see, I’ve never forgotten that. In fact, I think of it every time I read about some temperamental actor pitching a fit over some non-issue or making unreasonable demands.

So here’s to James MacArthur, actor … a consummate professional and all ‘round good guy.

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