John Hillerman

The Texan Who Fooled the Commonwealth

John Hillerman was born in Denison, Texas, but for decades half the world believed he had tea and biscuits at a private club in London. His British accent in Magnum, P.I. was so polished that the public forgot his real past in the United States Air Force. Before stepping onto a television set, he spent fifteen years honing his craft on New York stages.

There he learned that technical precision was worth more than any flash of ego. Because Hillerman didn't seek to be the star of the show. He preferred to be the cog that kept everything else running smoothly.

He was not a typical leading man.

Peter Bogdanovich was the first to see that this short man with an impeccable mustache had enormous film potential. In 1971 he cast him in The Last Picture Show, and soon after they worked together again on What’s Up, Doc?. Hillerman projected a natural authority that unsettled and fascinated people in equal measure.

Building Jonathan Higgins

In 1980 he received the offer that would change his bank account. The CBS producers were looking for a serious foil for the character of Tom Selleck in Hawaii. Hillerman accepted the challenge of playing Jonathan Higgins on one condition: the character had to be a war veteran with an unbreakable code of honor. To pull it off, he studied recordings of the greatest English orators of the era for months.

He won an Emmy and a Golden Globe thanks to that perfect act. But success didn't stop him from continuing to work with directors of the caliber of Roman Polanski on Chinatown or Mel Brooks on Blazing Saddles. In all those productions he applied the same recipe of restraint and distance.

His accent was his best tool.

But his relationship with the industry was always pragmatic. He had no interest in fame or the social events of Los Angeles. So when work began to dry up or stopped interesting him, he simply stepped out of the spotlight to reclaim his true identity off camera.

The Final Silence in Houston

His last credited work dates to 1996 in the film A Very Brady Sequel. After that shoot, he decided he had spent enough time in the spotlight of the studios. He returned to his native Texas to enjoy a retirement away from cameras and last-minute scripts.

He never missed the noise of Hollywood.

For him, acting was always a handcraft that ended when the clapperboard sounded. He didn't seek constant applause but the satisfaction of a job well done. And that philosophy allowed him to spend his final years in complete discretion.

John Hillerman died on November 9, 2017 at his Houston residence from natural causes. He was 84 years old and amassed more than a hundred professional credits over a career that never needed scandal to sustain it.