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Jim Backus

Jim Backus, American actor and screenwriter (died 1989)

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Born
February 25, 1913
Died
July 3, 1989
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1913

About Jim Backus

James Gilmore Backus was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island, the father of James Dean's character in Rebel Without a Cause, the voice of the near-sighted cartoon character Mr. Magoo, the rich Hubert Updike III on the radio version of The Alan Young Show, and Joan Davis's character's husband on TV's I Married Joan. He also starred in his own show of one season, The Jim Backus Show, also known as Hot Off the Wire. In 1958, he made novelty 45 rpm record singles, co-written by Buddy Kaye, "Delicious" (similar to Kaye and T. In 1959, he made novelty 45 rpm record singles, co-written by Irving Taylor, "I Was A Teenage Reindeer" and "The Office Party". Backus also played the voice of God in the recording of Truth of Truths, a 1971 rock opera based on the Bible.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Jim Backus timeline

  1. In 1958, he made novelty 45 rpm record singles, co-written by Buddy Kaye, "Delicious" (similar to Kaye and T.
  2. In 1959, he made novelty 45 rpm record singles, co-written by Irving Taylor, "I Was A Teenage Reindeer" and "The Office Party".
  3. Backus also played the voice of God in the recording of Truth of Truths, a 1971 rock opera based on the Bible.

The world when Jim Backus was born

Jim Backus was born in 1913. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1913

  • Best-selling book"The Inside of the Cup" – Winston Churchill

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJim Thorpe stripped of Olympic titles over amateurism rules
  • Top headline16th Amendment allows federal income tax
  • Technology milestoneFord assembly line begins — revolutionizes manufacturing
  • World population~1.73B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • U.S. population96.0M

1913 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Jim Backus's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19132026
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population96.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.