TLDR: Jim Backus spent a career playing men with more money than sense, from a radio snob named Hubert Updike III to Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island, and he voiced the nearsighted Mr. Magoo for roughly thirty years. He died of complications from pneumonia on July 3, 1989, at age 76, after years with Parkinson’s disease.
Jim Backus had a gift for sounding like a man who has never once carried his own luggage. It made him the perfect millionaire, the perfect stuffed shirt and, in cartoon form, the perfect nearsighted old fool.
He grew up around the real thing, in a wealthy Cleveland suburb, which may explain how well he captured the sound of it. By the time he boarded the S.S. Minnow on Gilligan’s Island, he had been perfecting that voice on radio for years.
A Cleveland Rich Kid Who Rode a Horse Into the Mess Hall
James Gilmore Backus was born on February 25, 1913, in Bratenahl, a wealthy suburb of Cleveland, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. His father, Russell Backus, was a mechanical engineer who doubted that acting was a real job.
He bounced through several schools, including Kentucky Military Institute, where he befriended future leading man Victor Mature. The school expelled him for riding a horse in the mess hall.
He attended University School in Cleveland and then graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1933. His first professional role was a 97-year-old rabbi in The Dybbuk at the Cleveland Play House.
Radio’s Favorite Snob and a Nearsighted Cartoon
Backus made his name on radio, where he turned up on The Jack Benny Program and The Judy Canova Show. On The Alan Young Show he played Hubert Updike III, a rich snob.
He also played Hartley Benson on The Mel Blanc Show and hosted his own variety program, The Jim Backus Show, on ABC Radio in 1957 and 1958.
In the late 1940s he took on the voice of Mr. Magoo, the nearsighted old man who stumbles through disasters without noticing. He voiced the character in more than 50 cartoons, and the role followed him through revivals into 1977.
From Rebel Without a Cause to Judge Stevens
His first film was The Great Lover in 1949, followed by Pat and Mike in 1952. In Rebel Without a Cause in 1955 he played Frank Stark, the father of James Dean’s character.
On television he played Judge Bradley Stevens, husband of Joan Davis’s character, on I Married Joan from 1952 to 1955. He then starred as Mike O’Toole in his own sitcom, The Jim Backus Show, for 39 episodes in 1960 and 1961.
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. In 1963 he turned up in the all-star chase comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as Tyler Fitzgerald.
Thurston Howell III and the Wife Who Was Older Than He Was
Backus played Thurston Howell III in all 98 episodes of Gilligan’s Island. The snob he had been voicing on radio for years finally found its biggest audience.
His on-screen wife was played by Natalie Schafer, who was born in 1900 and was more than twelve years older than he was, a fact she kept from the public until after her death.
The pair reunited for the three TV movies in 1978, 1979 and 1981, and both voiced their characters in animated spinoffs. Years later they came together once more as the Howells for an Orville Redenbacher commercial.
Away from the island he guest-starred on I Dream of Jeannie, The Brady Bunch, Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Gunsmoke. He also headlined the late-1970s revival What’s New, Mr. Magoo? and appeared in Pete’s Dragon.
Backus was also a serious golfer who made the 36-hole cut at the 1964 Bing Crosby Pro-Am.
Henny, Parkinson’s and the Last Years
Backus married actress Betty Kean in 1939, and the marriage ended in 1942. In 1943 he married Henrietta Karson, known as Henny, who became his lifelong partner and co-author.
Together they wrote memoirs, including Backus Strikes Back and Forgive Us Our Digressions, and Backus wrote about his long struggle with Parkinson’s disease.
The illness had reduced his part to a cameo by the 1981 reunion film.
Backus died on July 3, 1989, in Los Angeles, of complications from pneumonia at age 76. He was buried at Westwood Memorial Park.
His voice kept turning up in Looney Tunes cartoons released after his death, according to SlashFilm.
Alan Hale Jr. followed him in January 1990, and Natalie Schafer in April 1991. For the full story of the cast, see our guide to where the Gilligan’s Island cast is now.
Jim Backus, Magoo and Mr. Howell: Frequently Asked Questions
How did Jim Backus die?
Jim Backus died on July 3, 1989, in Los Angeles at age 76 of complications from pneumonia. He had lived with Parkinson’s disease for years.
Who voiced Mr. Magoo?
Jim Backus voiced Mr. Magoo from the late 1940s through 1977, in more than 50 cartoons and later revivals.
Was Jim Backus in Rebel Without a Cause?
Yes. He played Frank Stark, the father of James Dean’s character, in the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause.
Was Jim Backus married to Natalie Schafer?
No. They played husband and wife on Gilligan’s Island, but Backus was married to Henny Backus from 1943 until his death in 1989.
How many episodes of Gilligan’s Island was Jim Backus in?
Jim Backus played Thurston Howell III in all 98 episodes of Gilligan’s Island, which aired on CBS from 1964 to 1967.
