Portrait of James Whitmore

Birthday profile

James Whitmore

James Whitmore, American actor (died 2009)

Born
October 1, 1921
Died
February 6, 2009
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1921

About James Whitmore

James Allen Whitmore Jr. was an American actor, who appeared in over 150 stage, film, and television roles over a 50-year career. He was the recipient of numerous accolades, including three of the four EGOT honors – a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. He was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actor for Battleground (1949) and Best Actor for Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1975). In 1986, Whitmore voiced Mark Twain in the first claymation feature film The Adventures of Mark Twain. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role, and won the Golden Globe Award as Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role. His first play on Broadway – Command Decision – in which Whitmore played the part of Tech Sergeant Harold Evans, was the smash hit of 1947, and Whitmore received a non-competitive Special Tony Award for "Best Newcomer of the Season".

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

James Whitmore timeline

  1. His first play on Broadway – Command Decision – in which Whitmore played the part of Tech Sergeant Harold Evans, was the smash hit of 1947, and Whitmore received a non-competitive Special Tony Award for "Best Newcomer of the Season".
  2. He was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actor for Battleground (1949) and Best Actor for Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1975).
  3. In 1986, Whitmore voiced Mark Twain in the first claymation feature film The Adventures of Mark Twain.

The world when James Whitmore was born

James Whitmore was born in 1921. 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 1921

  • #1 song"My Man" – Fanny Brice
  • Top movieThe Kid (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Best-selling bookMain Street – Sinclair Lewis

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJack Dempsey vs Georges Carpentier — first million-dollar gate
  • Top headlineWarren G. Harding inaugurated as 29th President
  • Technology milestoneAlbert Einstein wins the Nobel Prize in Physics
  • Defining fadOuija boards
  • Notable inventionLie detector (polygraph)
  • World population1.88 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWarren G. Harding
  • Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
  • U.S. population108.5M

1921 versus 2026

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

Measure19212026
Gas$0.26$3.45/gal
Average home$5,500$435,000
Average income$3,010$67,500
Movie ticket$0.15$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population108.5M341 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.