week of 11/19/03
 
 
 

Q&A with Pat Hingle
By Charles Waters

Martin Patterson Hingle had something of a tough childhood, and he has never forgotten it. He never knew his father and was reared by a mother who did her best at a succession of jobs including school teacher and waitress. Born in Miami in 1924, by age 13 Hingle had lived in a dozen cities, including Saluda in Western North Carolina. After high school, Hingle attended the University of Texas, did a tour of duty with the Navy during World War II, and returned to the University of Texas where he joined the drama department, supposedly as a way “to meet girls.”

It must have worked. He met and married his first wife, Alyce Dorsey, and the couple moved to New York City in search of stage and TV work. Joining the Actors Studio in 1952, Hingle scored almost immediately, appearing with Karl Malden and Marlon Brando in the Oscar-winning “On the Waterfront” in 1954. He also enjoyed success on the stage as the title role in poet Archibald MacLeish’s “J.B.” Hingle suffered a near-fatal accident during the run of “J.B.” that cost him the little finger on his left hand. But Hingle rebounded and went on to amass an amazing body of work, which includes hundreds of stage, screen and TV appearances. His resume reads like a “Who’s Who” of TV and film, everything from “The Twilight Zone” and “The Andy Griffith Show” to his more high-profile work as Commissioner Gordon in the “Batman” movies.

Film critic Leonard Maltin describes Hingle as “A burly, steely-eyed bruiser who often effects a raspy snarl [and] has excelled in the portrayal of heavies, lawmen and authority figures. “One of the more instantly-recognizable character actors working today, Hingle has rarely taken a year off and most recently appeared as Chief Justice Townsend in the 2002 TV series “The Court.”

Hingle was in Asheville for the Asheville Film Festival, and I was able to hook up with him for a telephone interview the following week. Extremely affable and generous with his time, Hingle possesses an encyclopedic memory and proved to be a master storyteller. Following are a few highlights. (Imagine Hingle speaking in his irascible “raspy snarl,” and you’ll get some idea what talking with him was like.)



Q: Were you pleased with the turnout and response to the AFF, and the audience reaction to “The Angel Doll?”

A: “Yes, I was very pleased with the festival. I was at some type of panel on ethics, so I didn’t get to watch ‘The Angel Doll’ with the audience, but I got there just in time to see the last three minutes. They were very enthusiastic. I would have been surprised if it had not won [audience favorite feature film]. The only thing that I felt bad about was that the projection was distorted at times. Unless the projection is good, all the work that went into it is not realized. It’s too bad. But there were four distributors there, and I hope they will want to show it. It may not go in New York or Chicago or L.A., but I do believe it will go in the South and Midwest. If we can get regional distribution it would be a great help financially, because we haven’t made any money back yet [laughs].

“The tragedy is that the director [Alexander Johnson] had a stroke four weeks to the day he got the last shot. A lot of the movie was in his head, as to how he wanted to cut it, and unfortunately that went with him. He was a much beloved young man in the community and, when he passed on it was a very grieved city here, because he really was a young 41. But his wife started from scratch, and using her own native intelligence and through the help of friends put it together and edited it digitally. I think it is a fine story. I have said many times that I believe somehow the hand of God has been on this. For it to be made is a miracle, particularly because we wanted to make it with all North Carolina talent, and we damn near did it. The idea was to try to make a film that displayed the talent and ability available in this state. “


Q: How long have you made your home in Carolina Beach?

A: “I came here in 1985 to do a Stephen King film, ‘Maximum Overdrive,’ and they put us up in Carolina Beach. My wife is from El Paso and fell in love with the ocean. I spent six years in the Navy, so I was already in love with it. We built a condo and now have a house that is filled with 13 grandchildren every summer. My sister, Jamie, lives in Weaverville, and my other sister, Joyce, lives in Hendersonville. My other connection with the area is that in the fourth grade I went to Montford, and after that I lived in Saluda, where my grandfather was an engineer on the Saluda Grade. So I’m not a native, but I know the mountains as well as the beach. “


Q: You have done everything from “On the Waterfront” to “Batman” to “Hang ’Em High” to “The Kennedys of Massassechuts.” But I have to ask you about one of my all-time favorite episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show,” where you played Wild West entrepreneur Fred Gibson in “Wyatt Earp Rides Again.”

A: [Laughs] “It was very much a fun thing to do. I thought it was a very clever story. I’ve known Andy a long, long time. Andy [Griffith] went to UNC and in 1955 he and his wife Barbara came to New York City. They were doing a show at service club luncheons to make a little extra money at the time. She danced and sang, and he sang and played guitar. During one of the breaks he thought up a comedy routine, ‘What it Was, Was Football.’ One of the people who heard it was a promoter and they cut a record. I was doing ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ with Burl Ives, who was the star. Danny Thomas came to see the show, and so I brought Andy to meet Danny, and they did the pilot for ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’ There was never a show that was more laid-back than ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’ Everybody knew their work and everything, and Andy would bring his guitar in and make music while they were getting the lights set up. He had a make-up man who played a mean banjo, he was in Earl Scruggs’ league. I did a ‘Matlock’ early on when it was filmed in L.A., before it moved to Wilmington. I wish Andy all the best. But then, there are no performers I DON’T wish the best.”


Q: What is the defining Pat Hingle role?

A: [Long pause] “I can’t answer that! [Laughs] I’ve done 25 shows on Broadway, and I still prefer to play on stage. I couldn’t even tell you what my favorite role on Broadway is. I enjoyed making ‘Norma Rae’ a lot, I got to be so fond of Sally [Field]. My most recent TV series is called ‘The Court.” I do know that it has been a wonderful 54 years, it is a wonderful way to make a livelihood and, happily, I have been able to do that and do it on my own terms. I did not want to be Clark Gable. I was working as a popcorn man at the University of Texas campus movie house when I realized that I wanted to try to make it as a professional actor. It was a good job because you could study, and you got passes to the top movies. I saw Walter Huston and Hume Cronyn, and saw them playing a large variety of totally different characters. And they really made an impression on me.”


Q: What was the best piece of advice you ever received?

A: “I didn’t receive it as much as I observed it and saw it. And I think this would hold true for anybody. Save your money, so that you never have to want for anything. In this business, things go feast or famine. You better not set up an extravagant lifestyle that you have to maintain, because you won’t have the freedom to do what you want. When I went to the University of Texas, Jack Crane was head football player. His younger brother, Sam, was a movie addict, and every day I’d ask him: “What’s the good word, Sam?’ And he’d say: ‘Save your money.’ If you were a child of the Depression and as poor as I was, you’d understand. You had better put a little back every day.”