HAMPTON, James 1936- (Jimmy Hampton)

PERSONAL: Born July 9, 1936, in Oklahoma City, OK; married Mary Deese (second wife), June 30, 2002; children (first marriage): two. Education: Attended University of North Texas; studied acting with Michael Howard and Leonard Nimoy.

ADDRESSES: Home—Dallas-Fort Worth, TX. Agent— Agency for the Performing Arts, 9200 West Sunset Blvd., Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90069-3604.

CAREER: Actor, director, and writer. Actor in television series, including (as Bugler Hannibal Dobbs) F Troop, American Broadcasting Companies (ABC), 1965-67; (as Leroy B. Simpson) The Doris Day Show, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), 1968-69; Love, American Style, ABC, 1971-74; Mary, CBS, 1978; (as Link) B.A.D. Cats, 1980; (as Len Weston) Maggie, ABC, 1981-82; (as Harold Howard) Teen Wolf, 1986; Houston Knights, 1987; and (as Saul Taylor) Days of Our Lives, 1989. Actor in television series pilots, including (as Lester White) Force Five (also known as Final Tactic), CBS, 1975; (as Lieutenant O'Brien) Bravo Two, CBS, 1977; (as Sam Tuttle) Through the Magic Pyramid (also known as Tut and Tuttle), National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 1981; (as Dub Dennible) Kudzu, CBS, 1983; and (as Bob) Hope and Gloria, NBC, 1995.

Actor in films, including (as Private Menzies) Soldier Blue, Avco-Embassy, 1970; (as Aaron) Justin Morgan Had a Horse, 1972; (as caretaker) The Longest Yard (also known as The Mean Machine), Paramount, 1974; (as Junior) W. W. and the Dixie Dancekings, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1975; (as Howard Clemmons) Hawmps! Mulberry Square, 1976; (as Captain Anderson) The Cat from Outer Space, Buena Vista, 1978; (as Bill Gibson) The China Syndrome, Columbia, 1979; (as Lew Price) Hangar 18 (also known as Invasion Force), Sunn Classic, 1980; (as Harry Oslo) Condorman, Buena Vista, 1981; (as Harold Howard) Teen Wolf, Atlantic, 1985; (as Uncle Howard) Teen Wolf Too, Atlantic, 1987; (as mayor of Miami) Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach, Warner Bros., 1988; (as Arthur Watts) Pump Up the Volume, 1990; (as Jesse) The Giant of Thunder Mountain, 1992; (as Jerry Woolridge) Sling Blade, Miramax, 1996; (as pediatrician) Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel, 2000; and (as sheriff) Danny and Max, 2000.

Actor in made-for-television movies, including (as Harry Dudley) Attack on Terror: The FBI versus the Ku Klux Klan, CBS, 1975; (as Wilbur Peterson) The Amazing Howard Hughes, CBS, 1977; (as Alvin Karl) Thaddeus Rose and Eddie, CBS, 1987; (as Ernest) Three on a Date, ABC, 1978; (as Billy Sherrill) Stand by Your Man, CBS, 1981; (as Richard Hickman) World War III, NBC, 1982; and (as police witness) The Burning Bed, NBC, 1984. Also appeared in Fade-In (also known as Iron Cowboy), 1968; Bunco, 1977; (as defense attorney Prescott) Centennial (miniseries), NBC, 1978-79; and (as interviewee) Burt Reynolds: The E! True Hollywood Story (special), E! Entertainment Television, 2000. Guest star on television shows, including Gunsmoke; Murder, She Wrote; and Full House.

Director of television shows (some under the name Jimmy Hampton), including Hearts Afire, CBS, 1992-94; Kirk, The WB, 1995-96; Boston Common, NBC, 1996; Sister, Sister, The WB, 1996-97; Life with Roger, The WB, 1996; The Tony Danza Show, NBC, 1997; Grace under Fire, ABC, 1997; Smart Guy, The WB, 1998; Katie Joplin, The WB, 1999; and Zoe, Duncan, Jack, and Jane (also known as Zoe), The WB, 2000. Coexecutive producer, Harlan and Merleen (special), CBS, 1993.

Actor in stage productions, including Easy Does It, off-Broadway; and Tender Trap and (as Rock Hunter) Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter, both Chicago, IL. Performed in summer stock at Casa Mañana, Fort Worth, TX, 1961; toured in Rainmaker. Military service: Sixth Armored Calvary, c. late 1950s.

MEMBER: Gamma Lambda.

WRITINGS:

Burt Reynolds' Late Show (television special), 1973.

Burt and the Girls (television special), 1973.

A Whole Lotta Fun (television special), National Broadcasting Company, 1988.

(With others; and director, story editor, and producer) Evening Shade (television series), Columbia Broadcasting System, 1991-94.

ADAPTATIONS: The television special Harlan and Merleen was based on a story by Hampton.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 34, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.

periodicals

Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), November 22, 1996, Dann Gire, review of Sling Blade, p. 34.

Record (Bergen County, NJ), November 27, 1996, Roger Ebert, review of Sling Blade, p. Y8.

online

Gamma Lambda Chapter of University of North TexasWeb site,http://www.members.aol.com/glalumni/ (March 17, 2003), "The Honorees."*