Jim Backus

ActorWriter Feb 25 (died age 76) Cleveland, Ohio, USA 1948–2022 (74 year career)

5.9 avg rating

Biography

Jim Backus (1913–1989) was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous credits are The Alan Young Radio Show, I Married Joan, Gilligan's Island, and Rebel Without a Cause. He also starred on his own show The Jim Backus Show.

Known For

Film

Rebel Without a Cause

Frank Stark

Film

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Tyler Fitzgerald

Film

Pete's Dragon

The Mayor

Film

Gilligan's Island

Thurston Howell, III

Film

Angel Face

District Attorney Judson

Film

Don't Bother to Knock

Peter Jones

Film

Los Angeles Plays Itself

Frank Stark in Rebel Without A Cause (archive footage)

Film

Deadline - U.S.A.

Jim Cleary

Filmography

Acting (232)

Movies (164)

Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents

2005

as Himself (uncredited)

Los Angeles Plays Itself

2004

as Frank Stark in Rebel Without A Cause (archive footage)

7.6

Hollywood's Hidden Secrets

1987

as Self

Prince Jack

1985

as Dealy

Slapstick of Another Kind

1982

as President of the U.S.

2.7

Enchanted Journey

1981

as Gamba

6.4

The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island

1981

as Thurston Howell III

4.6

There Goes The Bride

1980

as Mr. Perkins

The Gossip Columnist

1980

as Jim Backus

7.5

Angels' Brigade

1979

as Cmdr. Lindsey March

2.8

The Rebels

1979

as John Hancock

C.H.O.M.P.S.

1979

as Mr. Gibbs

5.0

The Castaways on Gilligan's Island

1979

as Thurston Howell III

6.6

Good Guys Wear Black

1978

as Albert, the Doorman

5.1

Rescue from Gilligan's Island

1978

as Thurston Howell III

Pete's Dragon

as The Mayor

Never Con a Killer

as Stanley Bunch

Have I Got a Christmas for You

1977

as Kevin Grady

Crazy Mama

as Mr. Albertson

Cop on the Beat

as Jake Mandel

Friday Foster

as Enos Griffith

Goodnight Jackie

as Mr. Landry

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus

1974

as Narrator / Santa Claus (voice)

6.6

Miracle on 34th Street

1973

as Shellhammer

6.8

The Girl Most Likely To...

1973

as Prof. David Tilson

6.6

Now You See Him, Now You Don't

1972

as Timothy Forsythe

6.2

Of Thee I Sing

1972

as Senator Robert F. Lyons

6.0

Getting Away from It All

1972

as Mike Lorimar

Magic Carpet

1972

as George Benson

Mooch Goes to Hollywood

as Jim Backus

Myra Breckinridge

as Doctor

Uncle Sam Magoo

as Mr. Magoo

The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County

as Staunch

Hello Down There

as T.R. Hollister

Wake Me When the War Is Over

1969

as Colonel

5.0

Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?

as Tru-Blue Lou

Hurry Sundown

as Carter Sillens

Don't Make Waves

as Self (uncredited)

Damn Yankees

as Benny Van Buren

Fluffy

as Sergeant

Billie

as Howard G. Carol

John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!

1965

as Whitepaper

3.1

Mr. Magoo, Man of Mystery

1964

as Mr. Magoo

Advance to the Rear

1964

as Gen. Willoughby

5.0

Rendezvous in Space

1964

as Moon (voice)

Mr. Magoo in Sherwood Forest

1964

as Mr. Magoo

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

as Tyler Fitzgerald

Johnny Cool

as Louis Murphy

A Child Is Waiting

as Hot Dog Vendor (uncredited)

6.8

Sunday in New York

1963

as Chief Pilot Drysdale

The Wheeler Dealers

as Bullard Bear

Critic's Choice

as Dr. William Von Hagedorn

5.6

Operation Bikini

1963

as Bosun's Mate Ed Fennelly

My Six Loves

as Sheriff

Zotz!

as Prof. Horatio Kellgore

5.6

Boys' Night Out

1962

as Peter Bowers

5.7

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm

1962

as The King (segment "The Dancing Princess")

5.8

The Horizontal Lieutenant

1962

as Cmdr. Jeremiah Hammerslag

4.8

Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol

1962

as Mr. Quincy Magoo / Ebenezer Scrooge (voice)

6.2

Magoo Meets Frankenstein

1961

as Mr. Magoo

Inside Magoo

1960

as Mr. Magoo (voice) / Self

Tom, Dick and Harriet

1960

as James

Ice Palace

1960

as Dave Husack

5.8

I Was a Teenage Magoo

1960

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Terror Faces Magoo

1959

as Mr. Magoo

4.5

1001 Arabian Nights

1959

as Uncle Abdul Azziz Magoo (voice)

5.7

Bwana Magoo

1959

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Ask Any Girl

1959

as Mr. Maxwell

6.2

A Princess for Magoo

1959

as Narrator

The Wild and the Innocent

as Mr. Forbes

A Private's Affair

as Jim Gordon

The Big Operator

as Cliff Heldon

Magoo’s Homecoming

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Merry Minstrel Magoo

1959

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo's Lodge Brother

1959

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo Meets Boing Boing (The Noise-Making Boy)

1959

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo’s Cruise

1958

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Love Comes to Magoo

1958

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

The Explosive Mr. Magoo

1958

as Mr Magoo (voice)

Magoo’s Three-Point Landing

1958

as Mr. Magoo / Air Traffic Controller / Sully (voice)

Macabre

1958

as Sheriff Jim Tyloe

5.9

Gumshoe Magoo

1958

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo's Young Manhood

1958

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

The High Cost of Loving

as Paul Mason

Scoutmaster Magoo

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo Goes Overboard

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

1957

as King's Emissary

5.4

Magoo Breaks Par

1957

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo Saves the Bank

1957

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

5.0

Top Secret Affair

1957

as Col. Homer W. Gooch

4.3

Man of a Thousand Faces

as Clarence Locan

Magoo's Moose Hunt

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Eighteen and Anxious

as Harvey Graham

Rock Hound Magoo

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo's Masquerade

1957

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

1.0

Matador Magoo

1957

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo's Private War

1957

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

The Great Man

1956

as Nick Cellantano

4.6

Magoo Beats the Heat

1956

as Mr. Magoo(voice)

Meet Mother Magoo

1956

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo's Problem Child

1956

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

The Girl He Left Behind

as Sgt. Hanna

Meet Me in Las Vegas

as Tom Culdane

The Opposite Sex

as Psychiatrist

You Can't Run Away from It

1956

as Danker

4.7

Magoo's Canine Mutiny

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

The Naked Hills

as Willis Haver

Trailblazer Magoo

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo's Puddle Jumper

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Magoo Goes West

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Calling Doctor Magoo

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Francis in the Navy

1955

as Commander Hutch

5.4

Rebel Without a Cause

as Frank Stark

Madcap Magoo

as Mr. Magoo

The Square Jungle

as Pat Quaid

Magoo Express

as Mr. Magoo

Magoo Makes News

as Mr. Magoo

When Magoo Flew

as Mr. Magoo/Pilot (voice)

Deep in My Heart

as Ben Judson

Destination Magoo

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Geraldine

as Jason Ambrose

I Love Melvin

as Mergo

Angel Face

as District Attorney Judson

7.1

Above and Beyond

1953

as Gen. Curtis E. LeMay

6.1

The Rose Bowl Story

1952

as Michael "Iron Mike" Burke

3.0

Deadline - U.S.A.

1952

as Jim Cleary

6.9

Androcles and the Lion

1952

as Centurion

5.8

Don't Bother to Knock

1952

as Peter Jones

6.6

Here Come the Nelsons

as Joe Randolph

Pat and Mike

as Charles Barry

Hotsy Footsy

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Pink and Blue Blues

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Pete Hothead

as Lavery the Floorwalker/Mailman (uncredited)

Fuddy Duddy Buddy

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

as The Mayor

His Kind of Woman

as Myron Winton

Plutopia

as Milton the Cat

Half Angel

as Michael Hogan

Iron Man

as Max Watkins

Bright Victory

as Bill Grayson

I Want You

as Harvey Landrum

Bungled Bungalow

as Mr. Magoo

The Man with a Cloak

1951

as Flaherty

6.9

I'll See You in My Dreams

as Sam Harris

Hollywood Story

as Mitch Davis

Grizzly Golfer

as Mr. Magoo

Barefaced Flatfoot

as Mr. Magoo

The Popcorn Story

as Narrator

Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy

1950

as Magistrate Backus

Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town

1950

as Joseph "Little Joe" Rogers

6.5

Spellbound Hound

1950

as Mr. Magoo

Trouble Indemnity

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Emergency Wedding

as Ed Hamley

The Killer That Stalked New York

1950

as Willie Dennis (uncredited)

6.2

Customs Agent

1950

as Shanghai Chief Agent Thomas Jacoby

Ragtime Bear

1949

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

7.0

Father Was a Fullback

1949

as Professor Sullivan

Easy Living

as Dr. Franklin

One Last Fling

as Howard Pritchard

The Great Lover

as Higgins

A Dangerous Profession

1949

as Police Lt. Nick Ferrone / Narrator (voice)

5.6

Where Will You Hide?

1948

as Narrator

A-Lad-in His Lamp

1948

as Smokey the Genie (voice) (uncredited)

7.1

Animation Mavericks: The Forgotten Story of UPA

as Self / Mr. Magoo (archive footage, audio)

Television (68)

The Unknown Story

2022

as Self - archive footage

The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show

1986

8.0

Gilligan's Planet

1982

as Thurston Howell, III (voice)

5.8

Hill Street Blues

1981

as Mr. Magoo (archive footage) (uncredited)

7.6

$weepstake$

1979

as Major Adams

Eischied

1979

6.0

The Rebels

1979

as John Hancock

Fantasy Island

as Cap Truman

Flying High

The Love Boat

as Marvin Waterman

CHiPs

as Weitzman

What's New, Mr. Magoo?

Charlie's Angels

as Iggy

Ellery Queen

as Howard Biggers

Joe Forrester

Mobile One

as Macklin

Kolchak: The Night Stalker

Harry O

as Ziggy

Chico and the Man

The New Adventures of Gilligan

1974

as Thurston Howell III (voice)

4.8

Police Story

1973

as Jake Mandel

6.9

Alias Smith and Jones

1971

7.0

Nanny and the Professor

1970

as Dr. Charles Walters

Love, American Style

as Jerry Franks

Marcus Welby, M.D.

as Bill

Medical Center

The Brady Bunch

The Barbara McNair Show

1969

as Self

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

as Self (uncredited)

The Mod Squad

as Emile Wade

The Good Guys

Blondie

as J.C. Dithers /Mr. Dithers

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

as Self

Accidental Family

Continental Showcase

as Self - Host

I Dream of Jeannie

as General Fitzhugh

The Wild Wild West

as Fabian Swanson

Daniel Boone

as Will Scataway

Gilligan's Island

as Thurston Howell, III

7.4

The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo

as Mr. Magoo (voice)

Burke's Law

as Harold Mason

Arrest and Trial

as Sam Thayer

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962

as Self

7.4

The Merv Griffin Show

1962

as Self

6.2

The Beverly Hillbillies

1962

as Marty Van Ransohoff

6.9

The Mike Douglas Show

as Self - Co-Host

Cain's Hundred

as Karl Bigger

The Dick Powell Show

as Monte

The Jim Backus Show

The Mr. Magoo Show

as Mr Magoo

The Untouchables

as William Norbert

77 Sunset Strip

as Maury Samuels

Maverick

as Joe Wheelwright

Tonight Starring Jack Paar

as Self

The Gale Storm Show

as Arthur Hutchins

Conflict

as Dandy Summers

Matinee Theater

The Millionaire

as Henry Banning

Gunsmoke

as Reverend Sims

Climax!

as Detective Herman

The George Gobel Show

1954

as Self

7.3

I Married Joan

1952

as Judge Bradley Stevens

6.0

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

as Kevin Grady

8.6

Robert Montgomery Presents

as Lucus Edgerton

What's My Line?

as Self - Panelist

The Colgate Comedy Hour

as Self

Lux Video Theatre

as Harry

Studio One

as Tim McTaggart

Crew (2)

Movies (2)

Mooch Goes to Hollywood

Writer

Destination Magoo

Story