John McMartin

John McMartin Headshot

Actor

Birth Date: November 18, 1929

Death Date: July 6, 2016 — 86 years old

Birth Place: Warsaw, Indiana

John McMartin is one of those "You know, that guy who was in..." actors. His decades-long career began with an appearance in a small role in the durable TV omnibus series "Armstrong Circle Theater" (1958). Not long after this, he landed his first significant New York stage part as Corporal Jester, one of a pair of bickering lovers, in the long-running spoof musical "Little Mary Sunshine" (1959). The role was enormously beneficial not only to McMartin's career, but also to his personal life--he won a Theater World Award for his performance, and went on to marry the show's producer, Cynthia Baer, with whom he had two daughters.

This was the start of a very long and busy career in the Big Three--TV, movies, and theater. Among his dozens of televised appearances were multi-episode roles in the police drama "Hawaii Five-O" (1971), the popular nighttime soap-opera "Falcon Crest" (1985), and the dark HBO prison drama "Oz" (2000). In film, he showed up in a small role as a journalist in the Watergate thriller "All The President's Men" (1976) and a larger one as wealthy businessman Huntington Hartford in the 2004 sex-researcher biopic "Kinsey," among many other movies. He also originated the role of the shy Oscar Lindquist in the hit Broadway musical "Sweet Charity" (1966), and played and sang the part in the 1969 film adaptation of the same name.

Credits

KinseyStream

Actor
Huntington Hartford
Movie
2004
90%

Touched by an AngelStream

Actor
Edward Greeley
Series
1994

Separate but EqualStream

Actor
Governor James F. Byrnes
Miniseries
1991
83%

LincolnStream

Actor
Movie
1988

Roots: The GiftStream

Actor
Edmund Parker Sr.
Movie
1988

Who's That Girl?Stream

Actor
Simon Worthington
Movie
1987
33%

Falcon CrestStream

Actor
Julian J. Roberts
Soap
1981

Pennies from HeavenStream

Actor
Mr. Warner
Movie
1981
83%

Thieves

Actor
Gordon
Movie
1977

All the President's MenStream

Actor
Foreign Editor
Movie
1976
94%

Fear on Trial

Actor
Tom Murray
Movie
1975

Love, American Style

Actor
Peter Fergusson
Series
1969

Sweet Charity

Actor
Oscar
Movie
1969
82%

East Side West Side

Actor
Series
1963