Stuart Whitman, still alive at 91!

Stuart Whitman (second from right) along with (from left) Janet Leigh, DeForest Kelley, and Rory Calhoun in Night of the Lepus (1972)

For some reason, I thought that actor Stuart Whitman had died several years ago. Perhaps I was thinking of James Whitmore, but in any case Wikipedia and IMDb both claim that Whitman is still alive, and that today is his 91th birthday.

Whitman is one of those actors who worked steadily, but for the most part never quite made the A list with good starring roles in quality movies. The starring roles were mostly in lesser movies, and the prestige movies saw supporting parts. There was also a lot of TV work. Probably his best role was in The Mark, which earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination, one that was deserved except that he had the bad luck to be up against some really good performances.


Whitman (l.) in The Mark (1961)

Other roles were opposite Lauren Bacall in Shock Treatment; The Sound and the Fury which I mentioned not al that long ago; and the pictured Night of the Lepus which is frankly terrible but in a really fun way. Oh, I forgot he was in The Girl in Black Stockings, another fun one.